Submitted by: Submitted by sukichan
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Pages: 9
Category: Literature
Date Submitted: 04/28/2016 10:07 PM
Background, causes and current development
Due to the rich resources, the territorial disputes in the South China Sea has
been argued for decades. It is estimated that there are about 11 billion barrels of
oil, 190 trillion of cubic feet of natural gas as well as $5.3 trillion annual trade
passing through (Global Conflict Tracker, 2016).
At 1940, China published a map – “nine-dash line” outlining the territorial claims
(Hunt, 2016). This act gave rise to Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan, Vietnam and the
Philippines for claiming the sovereignty in part or wholly. In the past decades,
different size of reclamation activities had been made by various countries in
order to defend his own sovereignty and interest.
At 8 August 1967, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN, n.d.) was
established (ASEAN, n.d.). At 10 December 1982, an international law named
United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) was set up by the
United Nations. According to the law, “Coastal states exercise sovereignty over
their territorial sea which they have the right to establish its breath up to a limit
not to exceed 12 nautical miles and a 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone
(EEZ)” (United Nations, 1982). In order to enjoy the benefits, countries around
started to build up island and constructed different facilities, mostly are airstrips,
describing as aviation and civil use. However, according to the US, states have
freedom of navigation through EEZS in the sea. So, China’s claims are
threatening sea lines of communication, which facilitates trade and movement of
naval forces (Global Conflict Tracker, 2016).
At 4 November 2002, ASEAN and China sign a “Declaration on the Conduct of
Parties in the South China Sea” aiming to ease the tension. However, it failed at
the end. At 2009, China attached a map of the “nine-dash line” to the United
Nations for proving the sovereignty over the islands and...