Recently, the Philippines removed a 300-metre floating barrier installed by China near the disputed Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea. Later, China warned Philippines asking it “not to stir up trouble.
Scarborough Shoal
- China and Philippines, both countries have been embroiled in a tussle over the Scarborough shoal’s territorial claim since 2012.
- The Scarborough Shoal, also known as Huangyan Island comes under the Philippines’ EEZ. China claims that the records show “China’s sailors discovered Huangyan Island 2,000 years ago.
- The South China Sea is situated just south of the Chinese mainland and is bordered by the countries of Brunei, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam.
- The countries have bickered over territorial control in the sea for centuries, but in recent years tensions have soared to new heights.
Nine-dash line
- In 1947, China, under the rule of the Kuomintang party, issued a map with the so-called “nine-dash line”. The line runs as far as 2,000 km from the Chinese mainland to within a few hundred kilometres of the Philippines, Malaysia and Vietnam.
- The line essentially encircles Beijing’s claimed waters and islands of the South China Sea — as much as 90% of the sea has been claimed by China.
- China’s claims have been widely contested by other countries. In response, China has physically increased the size of islands or created new islands altogether in the sea.
South China Sea- significance
- The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development estimates that over 21% of global trade, amounting to $3.37 trillion, transited through these waters in 2016.
- China says it has centuries-old ties with the Paracel and Spratly island chains as they were once an integral part of the Chinese nation.
- But Vietnam disputes the claim, saying it has actively ruled over both the Paracels and the Spratlys since the 17th Century — and has the documents to prove.
