Economic And Political Tensions Of The South China Sea

The issues on South China Sea disputes are inherently complex and are compounded by conflicting interpretations from the claimant states. In attempting to dissect this conundrum, Dutton (2011) propounds a framework to explain the three facets to the disputes – territorial sovereignty, jurisdiction over sea zones, and control over military activities. The argument on territorial sovereignty premises on the notion of complete state authority over part of, or all of the islands in the South China Sea, in particular the Paracel and Spratly Islands. Common to both, China is the only state that has made sovereignty claims over both clusters of islands. It is noted that since 1949, the Zhou Enlai government has published maps with nine dashes forming a U-shape line in the South China Sea demarcating its maritime boundaries (Nguyen, 2012). In late 2012, China even published maps with the U-shape line in its new passports (Anderlini & Bland, 2012). Separately, Dillon (2011) posits that Beijing’s territorial assertion in the South China Sea stems from the historical tributary system with its vassal kingdoms that span from Japan and Korea in the

According to the Chinese Ministry of the Interior in 1947, China makes the largest claim in the South China Sea where it can be found in the 'nine-dash line' map. This map (nine-dash line) served as the basis for the Declaration on China's Territorial Sea, which was declared and made by the Government of Chinese in the year 1958 and arranged territorial claim to a majority of he islands in the South China Sea. Moreover, in the year 2009, a

The current Status Quo is complete US political and military domination in the South-China Sea, United States dominated and dictated trade deals, and unipolarity of hegemonic power (Beckley 2011) All of which, if China desires to grow its power, must challenge.

Today under Xi Jinping leadership. China quickly build up Navy, Army's airfields to control the entire the South China Sea.

(Marshall np.) Multiple countries are in contest over the Sea such as, China, the Philippines, and Vietnam. With so many countries stating their claims, China has come out with statements referring to the creation of a “nine-dash line” back in the late 1940’s. They have stated this line as a historical claim that gives China the right over the sea as well as the islands and resources within its area. (Marshall np.) Their actions are said to be bypassing international laws. After citing historical claims, they further stated that, “‘The Chinese government passed legislation in 1992 laying claim to four-fifths of the sea’” (Marshall np.) With concern of this growing Chinese presence in such a strategic region, the countries who have claims in this region alongside the U.S. have amped up military presence in the body of water. Obama’s first course of action was to implement a pivot of naval assets into the waterway. The question that is now posed is, was Obama tough enough on the Chinese way to passive. As China grows to compete with the U.S. as a superpower did Obama take the right courses of action to limit this Chinese growth. Obama’s Failure was that he couldn’t stop Chinese expansion which has left china in a stronger position with in the area that the surrounding countries are having to act into their own

In the past decade, China’s foreign policy has alarmed their neighbors prompting the United States to take a proactive role in the Asia-Pacific. Nonetheless, China continues to test the waters with the United States. The 2010 Senkuku Boat Collision Incident revealed how effective Chinese economic sanctions were in compelling Japan to release the Minjinyu 5719 crew. Consequently, the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) leadership remains confident that their economic clout will insulate China from retaliation as they continue to advance their national interest.

China has used historical claims to justify its territorial usurpations in the South China Sea. China’s territorial claims are causing conflict in the region as Beijing seeks to control more area of the South China Sea, with one such example being the declaration of Chinese control out to the “Nine dashed line.” Additionally, it is only in the last one hundred or so years that China has

In the article “One of the World’s Biggest Fisheries Is on the Verge of Collapse”, author Rachael Bale talked about China’s actions towards South China Sea are putting food supplies, homes, and lives of millions and environment at risk. In the early years, fishermen could fish freely in the South China Sea. As years go by, many of the them were prohibited to fishing in the South China sea. They are now facing a situation whether if they can feed their family. The reason being that China took a forceful action towards the control of the sea. That is to not allow foreigner to fish in the sea. China set up Coast Guards near the region. These troops will attack those foreign fishermen if spotted. According to the article, “China’s decision created

As of today, China has expanded and built over seven artificial islands in the South China Sea since 2014. The South China Sea has recently come to be a major problem in Asia as issues have risen over who has rights of passage and claims in this area. The Chinese of recent have been making territorial claims in the South China Sea that are in areas of free passage for many other Asian countries and the United States. In October 2015, a U.S. guided missile destroyer encountered one of the artificial islands and China’s response was that it would “take any measure” to maintain its security in “their territory”. The Chinese have been questioned in the Permanent Court of Arbitration by the Philippines after claiming rights to historical locations in the South China Sea, which violates sovereign rights of the Philippines, yet China responded to this outcome with refusal and has continued to advance itself in the territory causing huge disputes with its neighboring countries as freedom of navigation has been compromised through China’s actions.. In order to guarantee resolution and maintain the freedom of navigation aspect of international law there needs to be a foreign policy put in place that puts more United States military in the South China Sea with support from disputing countries like Japan and the Philippines as a way to make the issue multilateral and law abiding.

In July 2013, Wenweipo - the pro-PRC Chinese-language newspaper published an article titled “Six Wars China is sure to fight in the next 50 years”. According to this article, after unification of Taiwan (year 2020 to 2025), China will take the second war: Reconquest of Spratly Islands (year 2025 to 2030) and “China will send the ultimatum to countries surrounding the Islands with the deadline of 2028. The countries having disputes on the sovereignty of Islands can negotiate with China on preserving their shares of investments in these Islands by giving up”. In 1999, two Chinese military colonels – authors of the book namely “Unlimited War” suggested using an “unlimited war” to solve the disputing in the South China Sea. These authors said that, to avoid a war does not mean that not using military force and a conflict is indispensable. However, there is one more important thing that to control the intensities of conflict that. It is necessary to conduct some special activities to prove the sovereignty of China in the disputing Spratly Islands but do not let this activities increase to the total war. These things prove that the potential war between Vietnam and China in the future could be come true.

The dispute over the South China Sea denotes the process of power rebalancing while China rising as a hegemony in East Asia. China craves for more resources and power and decides to effectuate that by controlling more maritime territory. This act impelled the United State to align with the Philippines to balance with China. In a realism world, U.S. has adequate reason to intervene for fear for China becoming too strong a power.

The territorial and maritime disputes over the South China Sea (SCS) have been ongoing for decades. The disputes have been considered to be one the fiercest-contested in Asia. The South China Sea is an enclosed sea surrounded by several different states. China, the Philippines, Vietnam, Brunei, Taiwan, and Malaysia all surrounded the South China Sea. The main cause of tension in this dispute is because China claims to have “historical sovereignty” over all of the South China Sea. Associations of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have come up with different discussions and suggestions on how to end the disputes with favorable conditions for all contending states. They use the principles of the United Nation Convention of the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and form the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC). The states surrounding the South China Sea possess 12 nautical miles territorial sea and 200 nautical miles exclusive economic zones (EEZs). Thus, the South China Sea is not only international waters, instead, it is also overlapping exclusive economic zones. According to UNCLOS, disputes over exclusive economic zones must be resolved through negotiations by the contending states. Many of these contending Southeast Asian states have negotiated their maritime boundaries, however, China fails to comply. China claims that it owns all of the South China Sea, and therefore, has no need to

Nowadays, the conflict of territory solving in the world causes many complicated problems among countries, as well as tensions in foreign policies. One of these conflicts is the dispute in South China Sea between China and six neighbor ASEAN countries. With the intervention of the United States, the issue turns to be more serious as it attracts a lot of concerns from international community. This research tries to find a clear way of understanding the South China Sea conflict, specifically about the effort of China and Vietnam to gain the control over the two groups of islands: Paracel and Spratly. The hypothesis intends to express the possibility about Vietnam’s victory in this conflict with the help of the United States.

In the Western Pacific, the South China Sea is a global crossroads that holds strategic importance for many nations world wide. The South China Sea stretches from the Taiwan and Luzon Straits in the north to Indonesia and the Strait of Malacca in the south with Vietnam on the west and the Philippines and Borneo on the east. In total size, the South China Sea surpasses the Mediterranean Sea. However, unlike this Near-Eastern comparator, territorial disputes and conflicting claims threaten the movement of global trade through the South China Sea, thus unbalancing regional stability in the Asia-Pacific. Claimants include the bordering coastal countries of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), the Republic of China (a.k.a. Taiwan), the

Although the South China Sea is located between many countries that claim parts of its waters, it is generally agreed that the sea covers the Spratly islands and the waters surrounding them. The South China Sea lies home to many lucrative resources such as fish and the possibility of oil, but perhaps its most powerful and compelling resource is its location and status as a popular transportation route for trade vessels. A recent study by the SAIS review of International Affairs