On September 25, the Philippines Coast Guard removed barriers from the entrance to a lagoon at Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea. The barriers were originally placed by Chinese vessels. Chinese Coast Guard ships had previously erected a 300-metre-long barrier to restrict Philippine boats.
- This incident is the most recent in a series of ongoing tensions in the South China Sea.
- These tensions have refocused attention on the wider implications of the South China Sea dispute.
- The dispute affects not just the claimants of the sea’s islands and waters, but all Indo-Pacific region countries, including India.
Economic Significance And Territorial Disputes In The South China Sea
- The South China Sea, bordering the Western Pacific, is a crucial waterway.
- It is surrounded by China and Taiwan to the north, the Indo-Chinese peninsula (Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore) to the west, Indonesia and Brunei to the south, and the Philippines to the east.
- The Philippines refers to its adjacent waters as the West Philippine Sea.
- According to the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), trade worth $3.37 trillion passed through the South China Sea in 2016.
- As per the UN Conference on Trade and Development, 80% of global trade by volume and 70% by value is transported via sea routes.
- Around 60% of the total volume of sea trade passes through Asia, with the South China Sea handling approximately one-third of global shipping.
- The main dispute in the South China Sea pertains to various claims over islands, reefs, and the territorial waters surrounding these features.
China’s Assertiveness And ASEAN’s Response
- The UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) allows each state to set its territorial sea limit up to 12 nautical miles. It also permits an Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) up to 200 nautical miles from this baseline.
- The South China Sea dispute is complex due to multiple claimants. Most of these claimants are ASEAN members.
- ASEAN has been trying to establish a Code of Conduct (CoC) to manage these disputes. However, this has been a challenging task.
- Because of the conflicts within ASEAN, the association has struggled to form a united front to negotiate with China.
Launch Of Legal Proceedings By The Philippines
- In 2013, the Philippines launched legal proceedings against China under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). It claimed China had violated this convention.
- China declined to participate, questioning the legality of the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA).
- In 2016, the PCA issued a ruling against China’s assertion of sovereignty over the South China Sea through its “nine-dash line,” a boundary featured on official Chinese maps.
- The PCA determined that China’s territorial claims were not in alignment with UNCLOS, the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea..
- China rejected the PCA’s decision. They responded by releasing a white paper asserting that China’s sovereignty and associated rights in the South China Sea have a long-established historical basis.
India’s Stake And Potential Risks
- The South China Sea is of significant maritime, strategic, and commercial importance.
- Not only direct claimants but also other nations have a stake in its future due to its strategic location.
- As per India’s Ministry of External Affairs, over half (55%) of India’s trade passes through these waters.
- There are potential risks associated with any future attempts to control the South China Sea’s passageways.
- Moreover, the ongoing tension in the region could escalate into conflict, disrupting global trade.
- Such a disruption could have a far greater impact on the world economy than even the fallout from Russia’s conflict with Ukraine.
(This editorial is based in the article “Asia’s Disputed Waters” published in the Hindu on October 1, 2023)