South China Sea And Nine-Dash Line

The South China Sea has been a source of dispute for hundreds of years, but the conflict has escalated recently. China’s extensive territorial claims, marked by its “nine-dash line”, have sparked outrage among rival claimants including Vietnam, the Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia, and Brunei.

China’s broad territorial claims, specified by its “nine-dash line”, have annoyed other nations with stakes in the South China Sea.
Different countries have claimed several territories within the sea, including the Paracels and the Spratlys.
To reinforce its claims, China has resorted to construction on islands and naval patrols.
Although the US claims neutrality in these territorial disputes, it has sent military assets near the disputed islands under the banner of “freedom of navigation” operations.
Japan, despite having no direct involvement in the South China Sea, has supplied ships and military equipment to claimants like Vietnam and the Philippines.
There are concerns that the region could become a hotbed of tension, with potential global repercussions.

Why Is The South China Sea So Important?

The South China Sea is a key route for global trade. In 2016, it was used for shipping goods worth $3.37 trillion, representing over 21% of worldwide trade, as per the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.
It hosts numerous, productive fishing zones that support millions of people in the region. In fact, more than half of the world’s fishing vessels operate here.
Despite being largely devoid of human inhabitants, potential reserves of natural resources could exist around the Paracels and the Spratlys. Although the area is not extensively explored, its mineral wealth is expected to be significant based on its proximity to other resource-rich regions.

The Nine-Dash Line

China asserts the largest portion of territory within an area defined by its “nine-dash line”. This line consists of nine dashes that stretch hundreds of miles to the south and east from its southernmost province of Hainan.
According to both official and unofficial Chinese maps, the line extends from the coast of China’s Hainan Island and closely follows the Vietnam coastline, reaching deep into the South China Sea. This demarcation encloses the Spratly Islands.
To the north of Borneo, along the coasts of Malaysia and Brunei, the line takes a turn and extends to the western side of the Philippines, ultimately concluding just south of Taiwan.

South China Sea Territorial Disputes

China and Taiwan have similar claims on the Paracel and Spratly islands, stating their rights extend back centuries. However, the extent of China’s claim, represented by a nine-dash line on their maps, is unclear.
Vietnam strongly disagrees with China’s historical claim, arguing that it has owned both the Paracel and Spratly islands since the 17th Century and has supportive documents.
The Philippines also lays claim on a part of the Spratly Islands due to geographical proximity. Both China and the Philippines claim rights over the Scarborough Shoal, which is closer to the Philippines than it is to China.
Both Malaysia and Brunei lay claim to certain areas in the South China Sea, aligning their claims with their economic exclusion zones as stated by UNCLOS, the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
While Brunei makes no claim on the disputed islands, Malaysia claims a handful of them in the Spratlys.

Origins Of Nine-Dash Line

Although the concept of the nine-dash line has existed since 1947, it was not given much significance on Chinese maps for a considerable period of time. However, this began to change in 2009 when China included a map marking the nine-dash line in documents submitted to the UN during a dispute with Vietnam.

Presently, Chinese passports display a map with nine dashes across the South China Sea, as well as an additional dash that reinforces Taiwan as part of Chinese territory.

Nevertheless, significant ambiguity persists regarding the implications of China’s nine-dash line.

Yang Huairen, a Chinese geographer born in 1917, had a key role in drafting the 11-dash line map of the South China Sea in 1947.
Yang, who had studied in the UK, was employed by China’s Nationalist government at the time.
The map depicted 286 pieces of rock and turf in the South China Sea, collectively termed as the ‘South China Sea Islands’.
Despite the Nationalist government losing power to the Communists in 1949 and moving to Taiwan, Yang remained in China. However, he faced persecution during the Cultural Revolution from 1966 to 1976.
The original 11-dash line map was revised to a 9-dash line map in 1952, when China relinquished claims over the Gulf of Tonkin in a gesture of camaraderie towards Vietnam.
The dashes in these maps, as per Chinese and Taiwanese interpretations, symbolide the median line between the islands within the South China Sea and the larger landmasses along the coastline.
The dashed line’s purpose is primarily to assert ownership of the islands and their adjacent waters within the cow’s tongue, not the entire South China Sea.

China’s Historical Claims To the South China Sea And Counterclaims

China’s claim to the South China Sea is said to be historical. Many Chinese historians claim that the islands of the South China Sea were first discovered by the Han dynasty over two thousand years ago.
Chinese scholars insist that a third-century A.D. Chinese mission to Cambodia recorded the Paracels and Spratlys.
From the 10th to 14th century, many Chinese reports during the Song and Yuan dynasties include the South China Sea within China’s national borders.
However, these historical claims have met with opposition.
Evidence of China having control over the South China Sea post the mid-17th century is limited.
Following a period of exploration during the Ming dynasty (1368-1644), China’s rulers turned away from the seas, leading to a lack of map evidence supporting China’s rights to the South China Sea.
Most of the land and islands in the South China Sea are tiny with little historical significance and virtually no civilian population.

Major Conflicts In The South China Sea

Recent years have seen major conflicts mainly between Vietnam and China in the South China Sea. Confrontations between the Philippines and China have also been observed. The incidents are as follows:

In 1974, China took control of the Paracel Islands from Vietnam, resulting in the loss of over 70 Vietnamese soldiers’ lives.
In 1988, a confrontation occurred in the Spratlys, resulting in Vietnam suffering significant casualties, including the loss of approximately 60 sailors.
In the beginning of 2012, China and the Philippines found themselves locked in a protracted maritime confrontation, with each side accusing the other of encroachments in the Scarborough Shoal.
Unsubstantiated allegations of Chinese naval interference in two Vietnamese exploration missions in late 2012 sparked widespread anti-China demonstrations on the streets of Vietnam.
In January 2013, Manila announced its intention to bring China before a UN tribunal, invoking the UN Convention on the Laws of the Sea, in order to contest its territorial claims.
In May 2014, China’s deployment of a drilling rig in waters near the Paracel Islands resulted in numerous ship collisions between Vietnam and China.
In June 2019, Manila accused a Chinese trawler of ramming a Filipino fishing boat with 22 people on board. The Vietnamese came to the rescue of the Filipinos.
In early 2023, the Philippines reported incidents where Chinese vessels intentionally used lasers to temporarily blind Filipino boat crews. Additionally, they accused the Chinese of engaging in dangerous maneuvers such as sailing too close or obstructing the path of Filipino vessels.