South China Sea

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South China Sea
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Satellite image of South China Sea
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South China Sea
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South China Sea
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South China Sea
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The northeastern portion of South China Sea
Location East Asia and Southeast Asia
Coordinates 12°N113°E / 12°N 113°E / 12; 113
Type Sea
Part of Pacific Ocean
River sources
Basin  countries
Surface area3,500,000 square kilometres (1,400,000 sq mi)
Islands List of islands in South China Sea
Trenches Manila Trench
Settlements

The South China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean. It is bounded in the north by South China, in the west by the Indochinese Peninsula, in the east by the islands of Taiwan and northwestern Philippines (mainly Luzon, Mindoro and Palawan), and in the south by Borneo, eastern Sumatra and the Bangka Belitung Islands, encompassing an area of around 3,500,000 km2 (1,400,000 sq mi). It communicates with the East China Sea via the Taiwan Strait, the Philippine Sea via the Luzon Strait, the Sulu Sea via the straits around Palawan, and the Java Sea via the Karimata and Bangka Straits. The Gulf of Thailand and the Gulf of Tonkin are part of the South China Sea.

Contents

$3.4 trillion of the world's $16 trillion maritime shipping passed through South China Sea in 2016. Oil and natural gas reserves have been found in the area. The Western Central Pacific accounted for 14% of world's commercial fishing in 2010.

The South China Sea Islands, collectively comprising several archipelago clusters of mostly small uninhabited islands, islets (cays and shoals), reefs/atolls and seamounts numbering in the hundreds, are subject to competing claims of sovereignty by several countries. These claims are also reflected in the variety of names used for the islands and the sea.

Etymology

لاءوت چينا سلاتن)
(South China Sea)
Laut Nusantara (لاءوت نوسنتارا)
(Nusantara Sea)
Laut Campa (لاءوت چمڤا)
(Champa Sea)
Sunset on the South China Sea off Mui Ne village on the south-east coast of Vietnam Mui Ne4.jpg
Sunset on the South China Sea off Mũi Né village on the south-east coast of Vietnam

The sea lies above a drowned continental shelf; during recent ice ages global sea level was hundreds of metres lower, and Borneo was part of the Asian mainland.

The South China Sea opened around 45 million years ago when the "Dangerous Ground" rifted away from southern China. Extension culminated in seafloor spreading around 30 million years ago, a process that propagated to the southwest resulting in the V-shaped basin we see today. Extension ceased around 17 million years ago. [19]

Arguments have continued about the role of tectonic extrusion in forming the basin. Paul Tapponnier and colleagues have argued that as India collides with Asia it pushes Indochina to the southeast. The relative shear between Indochina and China caused the South China Sea to open. [20] This view is disputed by geologists who do not consider Indochina to have moved far relative to mainland Asia. Marine geophysical studies in the Gulf of Tonkin by Peter Clift has shown that the Red River Fault was active and causing basin formation at least by 37 million years ago in the northwest South China Sea, consistent with extrusion playing a part in the formation of the sea.[ citation needed ] Since opening, the South China Sea has been the repository of large sediment volumes delivered by the Mekong River, Red River and Pearl River. Several of these deltas are rich in oil and gas deposits.[ citation needed ]

Islands and seamounts

The South China Sea contains over 250 small islands, atolls, cays, shoals, reefs, and sandbars, most of which have no indigenous people, many of which are naturally under water at high tide, and some of which are permanently submerged. The features are:

South China Sea Karta CN SouthChinaSea.PNG
South China Sea

The Spratly Islands spread over an 810 by 900 km area covering some 175 identified insular features, the largest being Taiping Island (Itu Aba) at just over 1.3 kilometres (0.81 mi) long and with its highest elevation at 3.8 metres (12 ft).

The largest singular feature in the area of the Spratly Islands is a 100 kilometres (62 mi) wide seamount called Reed Tablemount, also known as Reed Bank, in the northeast of the group, separated from Palawan Island of the Philippines by the Palawan Trench. Now completely submerged, with a depth of 20 metres (66 ft), it was an island until it was covered about 7,000 years ago by increasing sea levels after the last ice age. With an area of 8,866 square kilometres (3,423 sq mi), it is one of the largest submerged atoll structures in the world.

Trade route

Millions of barrels of crude oil are traded through the South China Sea each day Major crude oil trade flows in the South China Sea (2016) (43582519014).png
Millions of barrels of crude oil are traded through the South China Sea each day

The South China Sea has historically been an important trade route between northeast Asia, China, southeast Asia, and going to India and the west. [21] [22] [23] [24] The number of shipwrecks of trading ships that lie on the ocean's floor attest to a thriving trade going back centuries. Nine historic trade ships carrying ceramics dating back to the 10th century until the 19th century were excavated under Swedish engineer Sten Sjöstrand. [25]

$3.4 trillion of the world's $16 trillion maritime shipping passed through South China Sea in 2016. [26] The 2019 data shows that the sea carries trade equivalent to 5 per cent of global GDP. [27]

Natural resources

In 2012–2013, the United States Energy Information Administration estimates very little oil and natural gas in contested areas such as the Paracel and the Spratly Islands. Most of the proved or probable 11 billion barrels of oil and 190 trillion cubic feet of natural gas in the South China Sea exist near undisputed shorelines. [28] [29]

In 2010, the Western Central Pacific (excluding the northernmost reaches of the South China Sea closest to the PRC coast) accounted for 14% of the total world catch from commercial fishing of 11.7 million tonnes. This was up from less than 4 million tonnes in 1970. [30]

China announced in May 2017 a breakthrough for mining methane clathrates, when they extracted methane from hydrates in the South China Sea, but commercial adoption may take a decade or more. [31] [32]

Territorial claims

South China Sea
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Location of the major islands in Spratly Islands. The eastern Dangerous Ground area contains many other reefs. Legend:
  Flag of the Republic of China.svg  Republic of China (Taiwan): 1: Taiping 2: Zhongzhou
  Flag of Brunei.svg  Brunei: 56: Louisa Reef

Map of various countries occupying the Spratly Islands Spratly with flags.jpg
Map of various countries occupying the Spratly Islands

Several countries have made competing territorial claims over the South China Sea. Such disputes have been regarded as Asia's most potentially dangerous point of conflict. Both the People's Republic of China (PRC) and the Republic of China (ROC, commonly known as Taiwan) claim almost the entire body as their own, demarcating their claims within what is known as the "nine-dash line", which claims overlap with virtually every other country in the region. Competing claims include:

China and Vietnam have both been vigorous in prosecuting their claims. China (various governments) and South Vietnam each controlled part of the Paracel Islands before 1974. A brief conflict in 1974 resulted in 18 Chinese and 53 Vietnamese deaths, and China has controlled the whole of Paracel since then. The Spratly Islands have been the site of a naval clash, in which over 70 Vietnamese sailors were killed just south of Chigua Reef in March 1988. Disputing claimants regularly report clashes between naval vessels, [34] and these now also include airspace incidents. [35]

ASEAN in general, and Malaysia in particular, have been keen to ensure that the territorial disputes within the South China Sea do not escalate into armed conflict. As such, joint development authorities have been set up in areas of overlapping claims to jointly develop the area and divide the profits equally without settling the issue of sovereignty over the area. This is true particularly in the Gulf of Thailand. Generally, China has preferred to resolve competing claims bilaterally, [36] while some ASEAN countries prefer multilateral talks, [37] believing that they are disadvantaged in bilateral negotiations with the much larger China and that because many countries claim the same territory only multilateral talks could effectively resolve the competing claims. [38]

The overlapping claims over Pedra Branca or Pulau Batu Putih including the neighbouring Middle Rocks by both Singapore and Malaysia were settled in 2008 by the International Court of Justice, awarding Pedra Branca/Pulau Batu Puteh to Singapore and the Middle Rocks to Malaysia. [39] In July 2010, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called for China to resolve the territorial dispute. China responded by demanding the US keep out of the issue. This came at a time when both countries had been engaging in naval exercises in a show of force to the opposing side, which increased tensions in the region. [34] The US Department of Defense released a statement on August 18 where it opposed the use of force to resolve the dispute, and accused China of assertive behaviour. [40] On July 22, 2011, one of India's amphibious assault vessels, the INS Airavat which was on a friendly visit to Vietnam, was reportedly contacted at a distance of 45 nautical miles (83 km) from the Vietnamese coast in the disputed South China Sea on an open radio channel by a vessel identifying itself as the Chinese Navy and stating that the ship was entering Chinese waters. [41] [42] The spokesperson for the Indian Navy clarified that as no ship or aircraft was visible from INS Airavat it proceeded on her onward journey as scheduled. The Indian Navy further clarified that "[t]here was no confrontation involving the INS Airavat. India supports freedom of navigation in international waters, including in the South China Sea, and the right of passage in accordance with accepted principles of international law. These principles should be respected by all." [41]

In September 2011, shortly after China and Vietnam had signed an agreement seeking to contain a dispute over the South China Sea, India's state-run explorer, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) said that its overseas investment arm ONGC Videsh Limited had signed a three-year deal with PetroVietnam for developing long-term cooperation in the oil sector [43] and that it had accepted Vietnam's offer of exploration in certain specified blocks in the South China Sea. [44] In response, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Jiang Yu issued a protest. [45] [46] The spokesman of the Ministry of External Affairs of the Government of India responded by saying that "The Chinese had concerns but we are going by what the Vietnamese authorities have told us and have conveyed this to the Chinese." [45] The Indo-Vietnamese deal was also denounced by the Chinese state-run newspaper Global Times . [44] [46]

In 1999, Taiwan claimed the entirety of the South China Sea islands under the Lee Teng-hui administration. [47] The entire subsoil, seabed and waters of the Paracels and Spratlys are claimed by Taiwan. [48]

In 2012 and 2013, Vietnam and Taiwan butted heads against each other over anti-Vietnamese military exercises by Taiwan. [49]

In May 2014, China established an oil rig near the Paracel Islands, leading to multiple incidents between Vietnamese and Chinese ships. [50] [51] Vietnamese analysis identifies this change in strategy generating on going incidents as occurring since 2012. [35]

In December 2018, retired Chinese admiral Luo Yuan proposed that a possible solution to tensions with the United States in the South China Sea would be to sink one or two United States Navy aircraft carriers to break US morale. [52] [53] [54] [55] Also in December 2018, Chinese commentator and Senior Colonel in the People's Liberation Army Air Force, Dai Xu suggested that China's navy should ram United States Navy ships sailing in the South China Sea. [52] [56]

The US, although not a signatory to UNCLOS, has maintained its position that its naval vessels have consistently sailed unhindered through the South China Sea and will continue to do so. [57] At times US warships have come within the 12 nautical-mile limit of Chinese-controlled islands (such as the Paracel Islands), arousing China's ire. [58] During the US Chief of Naval Operations' visit to China in early 2019, he and his Chinese counterpart worked out rules of engagement, whenever American warships and Chinese warships met up on the high seas.[ citation needed ]

On 26 June 2020, the 36th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit was held virtually. Vietnam, as the Chairman of the Summit, released the Chairman's Statement. The statement said the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea is "the basis for determining maritime entitlements, sovereign rights, jurisdiction and legitimate interests over maritime zones, and the 1982 UNCLOS sets out the legal framework within which all activities in the oceans and seas must be carried out." [59]

2016 arbitration

In January 2013, the Philippines initiated arbitration proceedings against China (PRC) over issues surrounding the nine-dash line, characterization of maritime features, and EEZ. [60] [61] [62] [63] [64] China did not participate in the arbitration. [65] :127

On 12 July 2016, an arbitral tribunal ruled in favor of the Philippines on most of its submissions. It clarified that it would not "rule on any question of sovereignty over land territory and would not delimit any maritime boundary between the Parties" but concluded that China had not historically exercised exclusive control within the nine-dash line, hence has "no legal basis" to claim "historic rights" over the resources. [66] It also concluded that China's historic rights claims over the maritime areas (as opposed to land masses and territorial waters) inside the nine-dash line would have no lawful effect outside of what's entitled to under UNCLOS. [67] It criticized China's land reclamation projects and its construction of artificial islands in the Spratly Islands, saying that it had caused "severe harm to the coral reef environment". [68] Finally, it characterized Taiping Island and other features of the Spratly Islands as "rocks" under UNCLOS, and therefore are not entitled to a 200 nautical mile exclusive economic zone. [69] The arbitral tribunal decision was ruled as final and non-appealable by either country. [70] [71]

China rejected the ruling, calling it "ill-founded". [72] China's response was to ignore the arbitration result and to continue pursuing bilateral discussions with the Philippines. [65] :128

Taiwan, which currently administers Taiping Island, the largest of the Spratly Islands, also rejected the ruling. [73] As of November 2023, 26 governments support the ruling, 17 issued generally positive statements noting the ruling but not called for compliance, and eight rejected it. [74] The governments in support are Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States; the governments in opposition are China, Montenegro, Pakistan, Russia, Sudan, Syria, Taiwan, and Vanuatu. [74] [75] The United Nations itself does not have a position on the legal and procedural merits of the case or on the disputed claims, and the Secretary-General expressed his hope that the continued consultations on a Code of Conduct between ASEAN and China under the framework of the Declaration of the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea will lead to increased mutual understanding among all the parties. [76]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paracel Islands</span> Disputed islands in the South China Sea

The Paracel Islands, also known as the Xisha Islands and the Hoàng Sa Archipelago, are a disputed archipelago in the South China Sea under de facto administration by the People's Republic of China since its defeat of South Vietnam in the 1974 Battle of the Paracel Islands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spratly Islands</span> Disputed archipelago in the South China Sea

The Spratly Islands are a disputed archipelago in the South China Sea. Composed of islands, islets, cays, and more than 100 reefs, sometimes grouped in submerged old atolls, the archipelago lies off the coasts of the Philippines, Malaysia, and southern Vietnam. Named after the 19th-century British whaling captain Richard Spratly who sighted Spratly Island in 1843, the islands contain less than 2 km2 of naturally occurring land area, which is spread over an area of more than 425,000 km2 (164,000 sq mi).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South China Sea Islands</span> Islands in the South China Sea

The South China Sea Islands consist of over 250 islands, atolls, cays, shoals, reefs, and seamounts in the South China Sea. The islands are mostly low and small and have few inhabitants. The islands and surrounding seas are subject to overlapping territorial claims by the countries bordering the South China Sea.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Taiping Island</span> Disputed island in the South China Sea

Taiping Island, also known as Itu Aba, and various other names, is the largest of the naturally occurring Spratly Islands in the South China Sea. The island is elliptical in shape being 1.4 kilometres (0.87 mi) in length and 0.4 kilometres (0.25 mi) in width, with an area of 46 hectares. It is located on the northern edge of the Tizard Bank. The runway of the Taiping Island Airport is easily the most prominent feature on the island, running its entire length.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Johnson South Reef skirmish</span> 1988 Chinese naval victory over Vietnam

The Johnson South Reef skirmish took place on 14 March 1988 between military forces of the People's Republic of China and Vietnam, on the Johnson South Reef in the Union Banks region of the Spratly Islands, in the South China Sea.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sansha</span> Prefecture-level city in Hainan, Peoples Republic of China

Sansha City is a prefecture-level city under the Hainan province of the People's Republic of China (PRC), and is the southernmost and least populated prefecture in China by far, with the smallest land area but the largest maritime territory. The city's seat is located on Yongxing Island in the South China Sea, and administers several island groups, atolls, seamounts and a number of other ungrouped maritime features within the nine-dash line, although the PRC's de facto control over the area varies. The name "Sansha", literally meaning "three sands", refers to the three archipelago districts of Xisha, Zhongsha and Nansha.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Philippines and the Spratly Islands</span> Philippine policies, actions and history in the Spratly Islands

Philippines and the Spratly Islands – this article discusses the policies, activities and history of the Republic of the Philippines in the Spratly Islands from the Philippine perspective. Non-Philippine viewpoints regarding Philippine occupation of several islands are currently not included in this article.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spratly Island</span> One of the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea

Spratly Island,, also known as Storm Island, is the fourth largest of the naturally occurring Spratly Islands in the South China Sea with an area of 15 hectares, and the largest of the Vietnamese-administered Spratly islands.

Malaysia and Vietnam are two Southeast Asian countries with maritime boundaries which meet in the Gulf of Thailand and South China Sea. The two countries have overlapping claims over the continental shelf in the Gulf of Thailand. Both countries have, however, come to an agreement to jointly exploit the natural resources in the disputed area pending resolution of the dispute over sovereignty.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spratly Islands dispute</span> Territorial dispute involving multiple countries over the Spratly Islands.

The Spratly Islands dispute is an ongoing territorial dispute among Brunei, China, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Vietnam concerning "ownership" of the Spratly Islands, a group of islands and associated "maritime features" located in the South China Sea. The dispute is characterized by diplomatic stalemate and the employment of military pressure techniques in the advancement of national territorial claims. All except Brunei occupy some of the maritime features.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nine-dash line</span> Contested Chinese map of South China Sea

The nine-dash line, also referred to as the eleven-dash line by Taiwan, is a set of line segments on various maps that accompanied the claims of the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China in the South China Sea. The contested area includes the Paracel Islands, the Spratly Islands, the Pratas Island and the Vereker Banks, the Macclesfield Bank, and the Scarborough Shoal. Certain places have undergone land reclamation by the PRC, ROC, and Vietnam. The People's Daily of the PRC uses the term Duànxùxiàn (断续线) or Nánhǎi Duànxùxiàn, while the ROC government uses the term Shíyīduàn xiàn.

Territorial disputes in the South China Sea involve conflicting island and maritime claims in the South China Sea made by Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, the People's Republic of China (PRC), Taiwan, and Vietnam. The disputes involve the islands, reefs, banks, and other features of the region, including the Spratly Islands, Paracel Islands, Scarborough Shoal, and various boundaries in the Gulf of Tonkin. The waters near the Indonesian Natuna Islands, which some regard as geographically part of the South China Sea, are disputed as well.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Philippines–Vietnam relations</span> Bilateral relations

The Philippines–Vietnam relations refers to the bilateral relations of the Republic of the Philippines and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. Since the end of the Cold War, relations between the two countries have warmed significantly. Vietnam is sometimes referred to as the only communist military ally of the Philippines, especially after Vietnam joined ASEAN in 1995. Both nations have cooperated in the fields of education, tourism, agriculture, aquaculture, trade, and defense. Additionally, both nations have similar positions on the South China Sea issue, with Vietnam backing the Philippine victory in the ICC against China, and the Philippines backing to a certain extent the claim of Vietnam in the Paracels. Both nations have overlapping claims in the Spratlys, but have never made military confrontations as both view each other as diplomatic allies and ASEAN brethren.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South China Sea Arbitration</span> 2013–2016 international arbitration case

The South China Sea Arbitration was an arbitration case brought by the Republic of the Philippines against the People's Republic of China (PRC) under Annex VII of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea concerning certain issues in the South China Sea, including the nine-dash line introduced by the mainland-based Republic of China since as early as 1947. A tribunal of arbitrators appointed the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) as the registry for the proceedings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hai Yang Shi You 981 standoff</span> 2014 dispute between Vietnam and China

The Hai Yang Shi You 981 standoff, also known as the 2014 China-Vietnam oil rig crisis, refers to the tensions between China and Vietnam arising from the Chinese state-owned China National Offshore Oil Corporation moving its Hai Yang Shi You 981 oil platform to waters near the disputed Paracel Islands in South China Sea, and the resulting Vietnamese efforts to prevent the platform from establishing a fixed position. According to an announcement by the Hainan Maritime Safety Administration of China, the drilling work of the Hai Yang Shi You 981 would last from May 2 to August 15, 2014. On July 15, China announced that the platform had completed its work and withdrew it fully one month earlier than originally announced.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Timeline of the South China Sea dispute</span>

The article covers events relevant to the ongoing territorial disputes in the South China Sea. Even before the common era, maritime trading networks had already been established in the high seas of the region. Prior to World War II, China, France, and Japan disputed over the Paracel and Spratly Islands. After the war, Brunei, Malaysia, the People's Republic of China, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Vietnam became involved in the conflict.

During the administration of President Barack Obama, there were six instances of the United States Navy performing a freedom of navigation operation (FONOP) in the South China Sea (SCS). During the same period the USN also performed multiple other FONOPs in other parts of the world. The SCS operations involved Arleigh-Burke class guided missile destroyers assigned to United States Seventh Fleet. The U.S. FONOP program began in 1979 and the Department of Defense (DoD) keeps public records of FONOPs since 1991 on its website. The Department of State (DoS) provided guidance to the DoD on conducting FONOPs, with a particular focus on the South China Sea and East China Sea, while pushing back on the People's Republic of China and their "excessive territorial claims", specifically with the Spratly Islands, Paracel Islands, and Senkaku Islands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Exclusive economic zone of Vietnam</span> Economic zone exclusive to Vietnam

Vietnam claims an exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of 1,395,096 km2 (538,650 sq mi) with 200 nautical miles from its shores.

Regional reactions to China's maritime activities in the South China Sea involve how China's maritime activities within the South China Sea have caused a wide range of reactions and responses from countries bordering the South China Sea, such as Vietnam, the Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei and Singapore.

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Further reading

South China Sea
Chinese name
Chinese 南海
Hanyu Pinyin Nán Hǎi
Literal meaningSouth Sea
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyin Nán Hǎi
Bopomofo ㄋㄢˊ ㄏㄞˇ
Wade–Giles Nan2 Hai3
IPA [nǎn xàɪ]
Wu
Romanization noe he
Hakka
Romanization nam11 hoi31
Yue: Cantonese
Jyutping naam4 hoi2
Southern Min
Hokkien POJ lâm-hái
Hainanese Romanizationnâm-hái