Introduction
The basic reason for the dispute is claim of territory and sovereignty over ocean areas, of Parscels and Spartlys islands located in the South China Sea by a number of countries.
Alongside these islands, are dozens of rocky outcrops, atolls, Sandbanks and reefs, such as the Scarborough Shoal.
Although, largely uninhabited, the Parcels and the Spartlys islands may have immense reserves of natural resources around them. Since it is disputed, there has never been a detailed exploration of the area, so estimates are largely extrapolated from the mineral wealth of neighbouring areas.
Most importantly, the South China Sea is one of the most busy shipping route and home to fishing grounds that supply for the livelihood of people across the region.
Major Reasons for Emerging into Prominence
Firstly, as brought out above, South China Sea is that world’s busiest waterway and anyone controlling or having the access to it can manipulate, apply coercive pressure and earn phenomenal revenue from the movement of international vessels.
Secondly, it is laden with natural gas and oil, and ownership of it will provide opportunity for exploration of this huge source of energy, especially to an energy starved country like China.
Thirdly, as per the international maritime laws, the extent of the maritime border is 12 nautical miles from the extremity of the land boundary of a country, by claiming islands/ reclaiming land off the coast, it is possible to extend the territorial extremity, and hence extend the access to the maritime exploitation.
Countries that Claim these Islands
China claims by far the largest portion of territory which stretches hundreds of miles south and east from its most southerly province of Hainan.
Beijing says its right to the area goes back centuries to when the Paracel and Spratly island chains were regarded as integral parts of the Chinese nation, and in 1947 it had also issued a map detailing its claims. It showed the two island groups falling entirely within its territory. Those claims are exactly mirrored by Taiwan as well.
Vietnam refutes the historical account given by China and says that China had never claimed sovereignty over the islands before the 1940s. Further, Vietnam claims that it has actively ruled over both the Paracels and the Spratlys since the 17th Century and has the documents to prove it.
The other major claimant in the area is the Philippines, which invokes its geographical proximity to the Spratly Islands as the main basis of its claim for part of this group of islands.
Both the Philippines and China lay claim to the Scarborough Shoal (known as Huangyan Island in China), a little more than 100 miles (160km) from the Philippines and 500 miles from China.
Malaysia and Brunei also lay claim to territory in the South China Sea by saying that it falls within their Exclusive Economic Zones, as defined by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
Though, Brunei does not claim any of the disputed islands, but Malaysia claims a small number of islands in the Spratlys.
History of Flashpoints
South China Sea has a history of flare-ups between China and the countries opposing China’s attempts to forcefully assume control:
- In 1974 the Chinese seized the Paracels from Vietnam, killing more than 70 Vietnamese troops.
- In 1988 the two sides clashed in the Spratlys, with Vietnam again coming off worse, losing about 60 sailors.
- In early 2012, China and the Philippines engaged in a lengthy maritime stand-off, accusing each other of intrusions in the Scarborough Shoal.
- In July 2012 China angered Vietnam and the Philippines when it formally created Sansha city, an administrative body with its headquarters in the Paracels which it says oversees Chinese territory in the South China Sea.
- In January 2013, Philippines said it was taking China to a UN tribunal under the auspices of the UN Convention on the Laws of the Sea, to challenge its claims.
- In 2013 China, asked India’s ONGC Videsh to stop gas exploration which it was doing on behalf of Vietnam.
- In May 2014, the introduction by China of a drilling rig into waters near the Paracel Islands led to multiple collisions between Vietnamese and Chinese ships.
- In April 2015, satellite images showed China building an airstrip on reclaimed land in the Spratlys.
- On 12 July 2016, ruling was given by a tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands, that rejected China’s “nine-dash-line” claim to much of the South China Sea. The nine-dash term refers to the markings that outline Chinese-claimed territory on maps of the sea.
Recent Developments in the South China Sea
- In August 2019, United States aircraft carrier, USS Ronald Reagan, that sailed through the disputed South China Sea is the latest show of America’s military might amid new territorial flare-ups involving China and three rival claimant states.
- In July 2020 a survey ship, protected by Chinese coast guards ships equipped with guns and helicopters, entered waters near Vietnam-controlled Vanguard Bank in the Spratly Islands. Its stated purpose was to conduct a study of the ocean floor, but it also blocked a Vietnamese oil exploration project and was protected by Chinese coast guard ships equipped with guns and helicopters. Vietnam responded by sending its own coast guard vessels to follow the Chinese surveying ship, creating a standoff.
- In August 2020, US aircraft carriers USS Ronald Reagan and USS Nimitz, along with escorting cruisers and destroyers, held exercises in the South China Sea to challenge Chinese hegemony in the region.
- Meanwhile, United Kingdom is also contemplating sending its new aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth to the disputed South China Sea to secure its local sea lanes. It may be noted that 12% of UK’s maritime trade passes through the area.
- In the most recent development, the Indian Navy has reportedly deployed one of its frontline warships in the South China Sea, much to the displeasure of the Chinese, who raised objections during diplomatic talks between the two nations. Besides, Indian Navy has also deployed its frontline vessels along the Malacca Straits near the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and the route from where the Chinese Navy enters the Indian Ocean Region to keep a check on any Chinese naval activity.
- Last month Indian Navy warships and a US Navy carrier group held a “passage exercise” in the Indian Ocean Region.
- Further aggravating the growing tensions in the region, China conducted military drills in the South China Sea last week and on 26 August 2020, fired a barrage of medium-range missiles (mainly DF-26 and the DF-21, which can attack moving targets at sea) across considerable distances into the South China Sea.
- On 01 September 2020, China Warship intercepted US Destroyer in South China Sea China and claimed that it warned off a US guided-missile destroyer in the South China Sea which was deployed in the disputed waters after a Chinese missile launch in the latest of a series of escalating tensions in the region.