south china sea

• The Permanent Court of Arbitration ruled that China's territorial nine dash line over the waterways of the South China Sea were 'unlawful'- therefore a violation of the 'rules based order'


  August 2016
• UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS)


  Allows state parties to claim 12 nautical miles territorial seas and 200 nautical miles of Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ) around their coastline 'naturally formed' land features that can 'sustain human habitation'
• Competing claimants of the South China Sea


  • Brunei
  • Indonesia
  • Malaysia
  • The Philippines
  • Taiwan
  • Vietnam
• China's claims of sovereignty over the South China Sea


  China claims an enormous area under what is known as the 'nine-dash line', which claims anywhere between 60-90% of the South China Sea waterway
• China maintains the South China Sea area has been under Chinese rule since 'ancient times'
• China has constructed ports, military installations and airstrips on islands around the South China Sea, or manufactured their own artificial islands to construct military and industrial outputs
• In June 2015, the PRC completed construction of seven artificial islands in the Spratly Islands on reefs they occupy to host military and civilian structures
• China's efforts to tighten its hold on the South China Sea represents a 'strategic triangle' of occupied islands of Paracel, Spratly and Scarborough Reef that has the ability to host civilian and military infrastructure
• The South China Sea is estimated to have 11 billion barrels of untapped oil and 190 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, and claims to host ⅓ of global shipping, worth more than $3 trillion in 2016
• $874 billion of Chinese exports and $125 billion of US imports pass through the South China Sea
• Xi Jingping: 'Any inch of territory passed down from ancestors cannot be lost'
• Between 2013 and 2015, China undertook extensive land reclamation, creating five square miles of artificial landmass on seven disputed sites
• US President Barack Obama signed a ten year military pact with the Philippines, the Enhance Defence Cooperation Agreement, to increase US troop presence in the country


  2014
• The US Department of Defence reported that China reclaimed nearly three thousand acres on islands, and the PRC completed a 3000 m runway on the Fiery Cross Reef to act as a military airfact


  2015
• In response to concerns voiced by US President Barack Obama about China's construction activities in the Spratly Islands, President Xi Jinping asserted that the PRC has 'no intention to militarise' the islands
• The Permanent Court of Arbitration ruled that China violated marine environmental protection obligations under UNCLOS by causing 'severe harm to the coral reef environment' with its reclamation activities and harvesting endangered species
• The PRC announced the creation of two new administrative districts under the authority of Sansha City (artificial island), covered by the Paracel and Spratly Islands, which was denounced by the Philippines and Vietnam


  2020
• The US Department of Defence reported a 'sharp increase in unsafe and unprofessional behaviour' by PRC military ships and aircrafts from 2021-2022
• In April 2021, all 27 member EU states issued a joint statement calling on all parties in the South China Sea to abide by the Permanent Court of Arbitration ruling
• In early 2021, the PRC passed a law authorising the Chinese Coast Guard to 'take all necessary measures, including the use of weapons, when national sovereignty, sovereign rights, and jurisdiction are being illegally infringed upon by foreign organisations or individuals at sea'
• The US Department of Defence stated that China's exceeding of militarisation through land reclamation and construction has 'allow[ed] China to maintain a more flexible and persistent military and paramilitary presence in the area', which 'improves China's ability to detect and challenge activities by rival claimants or third parties and widens the range of response options available to Beijing'
• New Bilateral Defense Guidelines strengthened US security commitments under the US-Philippines defence treaty, stating that armed third-party attacks against Philippines armed forces, including Coat Guards, aircrafts, or public vessels, 'anywhere' in the Sea, would invoke US mutual security commitments


  2023
• In early 2023, a PRC coast guard vessel targeted a Philippine coast guard vessel with a military grade laser, reportedly temporarily blinding some crew members
• Later in 2023, China Coast Guard and maritime militia vessels fired a water cannon and took other actions to obstruct a Philippine coast guard escort mission to resupply marine detachment
• 2016: ASEAN sought to create a non-binding code of conduct for the SCS, aiming to guarantee member states full sovereignty over their EEZ
• Cambodia opposed the non-binding code of conduct, subverting any challenge to china's claim
• China’s promised to deliver US$588 million in aid between 2019 and 2021, for instance, providing Cambodia with plentiful funds to embark on much needed structural reforms - be it in the form of infrastructure or energy costs. 

  • 'unbreakable relationship' (Xi Jingping)
• 'territorial struggles over natural resources may lead to environmental collapse' - joshua frank
• The South China Sea, according to Chinese researchers, holds large reserves of 'strategically important' precious metals
• Critical coal reefs (113) are struggling to survive after being buried under the Chinese military artifical Islands on Spratly
• Washington-based Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative reported that several countries are pursuing new oil and gas development projects in those contested waters, which, the organization notes, could become a “flashpoint in the disputes.”