Global Politics

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...