activities and history of the Philippines in Spratly Islands

Sea including China, Vietnam, the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, and Taiwan. While not located directly in the region the United States, Australia, Japan, and India all hold economic, territorial, and security concerns over the disputes. Specifically, the United States has been involved in the territorial disputes to uphold maritime security laws and freedom of navigation. The main contended island groups in the SCS include the Pratas, Spratlys, Paracels Islands, and the Scarborough Shoal, all claimed

summer of 2011, when he met the Philippine President Benigno Aquino. Specifically, the Chinese Foreign Ministry website explains as follows; the concept of “setting aside dispute and pursuing joint development” has the following four elements: 1) The sovereignty of the territories concerned belongs to China, 2) when conditions are not ripe to bring about a thorough solution to territorial dispute, discussion on the issue of sovereignty may be postponed so that the dispute is set aside. To set aside

As the tension and activities of competing countries increase in the South China Sea this in turn has increased potential implications for its environment. One major implication is the potential hazards that are threatening coral reefs and other components of the local marine ecology within that region. The once untouched ecosystem is at danger because of aggressive engagements of ocean floors in search of natural resources. Since 2013, China has orchestrated reclamation constructions on reefs in

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

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. Hence,

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.

role in managing the disputes over the South China Sea (SCS) as part of its commitment to promote peace and stability in the region. The disputes were related to territorial claims over Spratly and Paracel islands and maritime boundaries involving four ASEAN members, namely Brunei Darussalam, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Vietnam as well as the People’s Republic of China (and Taiwan). The potential escalation of conflict to open war in the region, due to military build up by China and external intervention

INTRODUCTION The ongoing dispute in the South China Sea between the People’s Republic of China (PRC), and the various littoral states (Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, and the Philippines) has been a topic of intense debate and observation in the international community. While each of the littoral states attempts to enforce and control the 200 nautical-mile Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) allotted to them by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), the PRC is claiming much of the South

environment.  China is convinced that the U.S. is trying to draw ASEAN or some of its members together with Australia, Japan and South Korea into a soft alliance to constrain if not contain it. China  alleges that tacit US support has emboldened the Philippines and Vietnam to challenge China’s claims and actions. Whether correct or not, the contrasting perceptions have enhanced rivalry and tension in the region. There is an honest difference of opinion regarding who is reacting to whom and who has the

located between Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore is the Strait of Malacca – which was estimated to have 15.2 million barrels of oil pass through the strait a day in 2013. ASEAN was formed in 1967 by its five founding members – Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand , during a time where the region was described as “conflict-ridden and akin to the Balkans of the East”. It was an era where these nation-states had just gained post-colonial independence, and the atmosphere was plagued