differing interpretations

• China believes that the South China Sea is part of Chinese territory and part of their sovereignty.

  (2019 White Paper) 

  China resolutely safeguards its national sovereignty and territorial integrity. 

  The South China Sea islands…are an inalienable part of Chinese territory. 

  China exercises its national sovereignty to build infrastructure and deploy necessary defensive capabilities on the island and reefs.
• However, the Philippines does not believe that China has a sovereign claim over the South China Sea. 

  • Rather, the Philippines believe that China’s maritime claims are inconsistent with international law. 

  In 2013, the Philippines initiated a case against China at the Permanent Court of Arbitration. At the centre of the dispute was China’s ‘vague depiction’ of claim through the nine-dash line