TERRITORIAL DISPUTES OVER THE SOUTH CHINA SEA, A HISTORICAL AND ANALYTIC APPROACH

Submitted by: Joshua Erdy A. Tan III A BSITE

OUTLINE OF PRESENTATION
I. Abstract

A. Statement of the Problem

B. Goals and Objectives C. Scope and Limitation

D. Theoretical Framework
E. Methodology II. Introduction III. Related Studies IV. Analysis of Data V. Conclusion VI. References

I. ABSTRACT
In this study, we will analyse the territories and islands being disputed over the South China Sea. The following specific disputed islands are the basis for this concept: 1. Islands in the southern reaches of the South China Sea, including the Spratly Islands by Philippines, Taiwan, and China 2. Maritime boundary off the coast of central Philippines and Luzon between the Philippines, China, and Taiwan 3. The nine-dash area claimed by China which covers most of the South China sea and overlaps EEZ of the Republic of the Philippines

A. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

The territorial disputes between three countries (Philippines, China, and Taiwan) surrounding the South China Sea creates tensions and conflicts that affects their political, economic, and diplomatic relations.

B. GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

The goals and objectives of this study are: 1. To know and elaborate the basis and claims of the different territories by countries in the Asia-Pacific (Philippines, Taiwan, and China) 2. To analyze the historical data and information of different claimants of the unclaimed territories in the South China Sea 3. To distinguish the diplomatic and foreign relations between the claimants (Philippines, Taiwan, and China) 4. To determine the legality of such territorial disputes

C. SCOPE AND LIMITATION

This study only applies within three countries in the Asia-Pacific Region (China, Taiwan, and the Philippines).

D. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
The theories that are supported in this study includes both the Conflict theory and International Relations theory. Conflict theory defines as inequality exists because those in control of a disproportionate share of societys resources actively defend their advantages.

E. METHODOLOGY
The methods that are used involves the combination of both comparative and historical research to prove the claims and basis for the disputed territories in the South China Sea (also known as West Philippine Sea).

II. INTRODUCTION
The South China Sea Spratly Islands Scarborough Shoal

SOUTH CHINA SEA

One of the Asias body of water that has a lot of resources (oil and gas reserves, fishes, and other sea resources). Measures around 3 million square kilometres. Composed of over 250 small islands, shoals, reefs, and sandbars, in which countries compete over claims within the sea boundaries.

SPRATLY ISLANDS
An archipelago of over 400 rocks, reefs and islands located in the southern part of the South China Sea, comprising 36 islands (or rocks) that are above water at high tide.

SCARBOROUGH SHOAL

SCARBOROUGH SHOAL
Forms a triangle-shaped chain of reefs and rocks or very small islands 55 kilometres (34 mi) in circumference with a total area including shallow water areas of 150 square kilometers. Was named after the East India Company tea-trade ship, Scarborough, which was wrecked on one of its rocks on 12 September 1784 with all lives lost. Because of its rich fishing grounds, the sovereignty of the shoal is disputed and claimed by three countries, which are, the Peoples Republic of China, Republic of China (Taiwan), and the Republic of the Philippines.

III. RELATED STUDIES

Maritime Boundary Disputes in the South China Sea (Sydney Law School) The South China Sea dispute: Evolution, Conflict Management and Resolution The Management of the Spratly Islands Conflict: Success or Failure? Philippine Territorial Boundaries: Internal Tensions, Colonial Baggage, Ambivalent Conformity Emerging maritime rivalry in The South China Sea: Territorial disputes, sea-lane security, and the pursuit of power Who owns the Spratly Islands? Santiago: Scare China with power politics

MARITIME BOUNDARY DISPUTES IN THE SOUTH CHINA SEA

According to Triggs (2009), energy security has become one of the world's foremost concerns and a potent source of international conflict. The Philippines occupy nine rocks or islets and bases its claims on discovery, proximity, and occupation. It also occupies Kalayaan Island (Freedomland) discovered by Tomas Cloma in 1956.

MARITIME BOUNDARY DISPUTES IN THE SOUTH CHINA SEA

China occupies eight islets or rocks and, in 1993, presented a map of its historic claims to the islands, rocks and perhaps reefs of the South China Sea. A map drawn in 1947 by the Republic of China with nine undefined, dotted lines provides further evidence of Chinas claim. Taiwan has occupied the largest island in the Spratly group, Itu Aba (Taiping Dao) for about 20 years. Taiwan rests its claim on substantially the same historical grounds as China.

THE SOUTH CHINA SEA DISPUTE: EVOLUTION, CONFLICT MANAGEMENT AND RESOLUTION
The main idea of the South China Sea dispute is a series of complex, legal, technical and geographic components critical to understanding the dispute. Its small features and indeterminate maritime regime are the subject of conflicting claims among China and Taiwan and four membercountries of the ASEAN.

THE MANAGEMENT OF THE SPRATLY ISLANDS CONFLICT: SUCCESS OR FAILURE?

The Spratly Islands conflict in the South China Sea originally started in the 1930s, but was first manifestly erupted in 1969. They are entirety and partially claimed by China, Taiwan and Vietnam, and Malaysia, the Philippines and Brunei respectively. Spratly Islands is the source of conflict because of its oil abundance and other natural resources, and strategic location.

PHILIPPINE TERRITORIAL BOUNDARIES: INTERNAL TENSIONS, COLONIAL BAGGAGE, AMBIVALENT CONFORMITY

According to Bautista (2011), the extent and definition of the Philippine national territory is disputed in international law.

PHILIPPINE TERRITORIAL BOUNDARIES: INTERNAL TENSIONS, COLONIAL BAGGAGE, AMBIVALENT CONFORMITY

The boundaries of the Philippines are not recognised by the international community for two principal reasons. First, because of the fundamental position of the Philippines that the limits of its national territory are the boundaries laid down in the 1898 Treaty of Paris which ceded the Philippines from Spain to the United States; and second, is its claim that all the waters embraced within these imaginary lines are its territorial waters.

EMERGING MARITIME RIVALRY IN THE SOUTH CHINA SEA: TERRITORIAL DISPUTES, SEA-LANE SECURITY, AND THE PURSUIT OF POWER
Disputes over the South China Sea, principally the Spratly and the Paracel Islands, began to emerge in the early 1970s when it was discovered that this ocean area may contain significant oil and natural gas deposits. The scramble for islets in the South China Sea further intensified with the signing (1982) and entry into force (1994) of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

WHO OWNS THE SPRATLY ISLANDS?

The History and the UNCLOS are the bases of the claims of each country The Sultanate State of Sulu is the legal owner of the Spratlys Archipelago, but since the Sultan Kiram turnover his territorial and proprietary rights of the State to the Republic of the Philippines including the Palawan and the Spratlys in 1960's, then legally it belongs to the Philippines.

SANTIAGO: SCARE CHINA WITH POWER POLITICS

Santiago explained that since China has consistently refused to raise the issue on territorial dispute in the Scarborough Shoal (Panatag Shoal), which is in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea), to international courts like the International Court of Justice and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, the only alternative left for the Philippines is power politics.

IV. ANALYSIS OF DATA

Using maps and timeline of the, we would be able to classify the different bases and claims for the territorial disputes and conflicts on the South China Sea.

MAPS
Maps of various countries occupying the Spratly Islands Chinas Nine-Dotted Line Map Carta Hydrografica y Chorographica de las Islas Filipinas (1734)

MAPS OF VARIOUS COUNTRIES OCCUPYING THE SPRATLY ISLANDS

COUNTRIES AND THEIR CLAIMED TERRITORIES/ISLANDS

Philippines
Patag Panata Kota Lawak Parola Pag-asa Likas Rizal Balagtas Ayungin

China
Cuarteron Reef Fiery Cross Reef Gaven Reefs Hughes Reef Johnson South Reef Mischief Reef Subi Reef First Thomas Reef Whitson Reef

Taiwan
Taiping Island Ban Than Reef

CHINAS NINE-DOTTED LINE MAP

 According to both Nguyen Dang Thang and Nguyen Hong Thao (2011), Chinas nine-dotted-line claim has elicited responses from claimant as well as non-claimant states in the Spratly Islands dispute. China claims sovereignty over islands in the SCS, which include, inter alia, the Spratly Islands on the basis of discovery by Chinese fishermen and historic usage. According to Chinese literature, China made some efforts to define the geographical scope of the islands in the SCS, including the Spratly Islands, in the 1930s by ascertaining their coordinates and toponyms.

 It was not until the late 1940s that the nine-dotted lines appeared for the first time on a map of islands in the SCS published by China (then the Republic of China). Lying to the North of the SCS, China cannot, in accordance with the LOS Convention, project a maritime claim from its mainland to the centre of the SCS, where the Spratly Islands is located.

CARTA HYDROGRAFICA Y CHOROGRAPHICA DE LAS ISLAS FILIPINAS (1734)

 The oldest Philippine political map found by Spanish cartographer, Pedro Murillo Velarde. Currently, this map can be found on the Metropolitan Museum of Manila. This navigation chart, along with another by Murillo Velarde dated 1734 and two later maps, one of them British, shows the Scarborough shoal 124 nautical miles from the Luzon coastline.

TIMELINE
200-300 BC: China first discovers the Nansha Islands and other islands in the South China Sea, and begins to occupy and govern them. 1885: China officially claims all the Nansha Islands. 1939: The Nansha Islands are invaded and occupied by Japan during the Second World War. 1946: China declares the Nansha Islands as part of Guangdong province.

TIMELINE
1947: The Philippines claims some of the eastern Nansha Islands and the Scarborough Reef. 1951: Japan renounces all rights to the Nansha Islands. No resolution is made on who owns them. 1978: Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos claims the entire territory as part of the Philippines, redrawing the country's map. 1991: China passes the Law on Territorial Waters and Their Contiguous Areas.

TIMELINE
1994: China distributes a map claiming the entire South China Sea, including all the Nansha Islands. 1995: China and the Philippines have a conflict in Mischief Reef. 2000: In May, Chinese and Philippine foreign ministers agree to "contribute positively toward the formulation and adoption of the regional Code of Conduct in the South China Sea." In December, Vietnam and China sign two agreements to resolve long-standing territorial disputes over the Gulf of Tonkin.

TIMELINE
Nov. 2002: China and ASEAN adopt the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties on the South China Sea, setting the stage for possible commercial cooperation and long-term stability. June 28, 2011: The US and the Philippines begin routine naval drills near the South China Sea. July 6, 2011: The Philippines' Foreign Secretary, Alberto Del Rosario visits China to seek a diplomatic solution.

TIMELINE
July 19, 2011: The South China Sea dispute is a key topic of discussion at the ASEAN Regional Forum in Bali. July 25, 2011: Progress is deemed to have been made during the ASEAN Regional Forum. China and ASEAN established a deal to create a set of guidelines for future negotiations to establish a "code of conduct" as a "first step" towards a more sweeping, binding code of conduct.

TIMELINE
Oct. 18, 2011: Japanese Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba proposed a multilateral framework to settle maritime disputes in the South China Sea during a tour of Indonesia and other Southeast Asian countries, with China reiterating that it wants to resolve territorial disputes in the South China Sea through talks between nations that are directly involved, rather than involving other countries.

TIMELINE
Oct. 20, 2011: Annual joint US-Philippines marine drills begin, which include a hostile beach assault exercise near the Nansha Islands. At the same time, a Philippine warship struck a Chinese fishing boat in the South China Sea, leading to an apology by the Philippine Navy. Oct. 25, 2011: Global Times commentary warns of "sounds of cannons" if nations involved in territorial disputes in the South China Sea "don't want to change their ways with China."

TIMELINE
Nov. 21, 2011: During the East Asia conference, the US and ASEAN countries aligned to effectively pressure China on their claims to hold "indisputable sovereignty" over the South China Seas.

V. CONCLUSION
The territorial disputes surrounding the South China Sea could only cause tensions and war rhetoric among countries in Asia-Pacific region. Because of the abundance of natural resources such as oil and gas deposits, and also sea resources, Philippines, China, and Taiwan would be harsh enemies in the geopolitical perspectives.

EFFECT ON FOREIGN RELATIONS

Foreign relations between the three countries have been soured. Agreements such as the UN's 1982 convention appeared to lay the framework for a solution. Under the agreement, the countries agreed to "resolve their territorial and jurisdictional disputes by peaceful means, without resorting to the threat or use of force, through friendly consultations and negotiations".

THANK YOU!