Divergent Perspectives and the Resolution of the South China Sea Disputes

The key obstacle for the resolution of the South China Sea disputes, writes Minh Tran, a PhD student at University of Canterbury, is the radical difference in perspectives between China on one side and the other claimants on the other side.

The South China Sea is one of the largest semi-enclosed seas in the world, covering an area of sea of some 3.5 million square kilometres. Its littoral states include Brunei, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, and Vietnam. It is connected to the Indian Ocean by Malacca Strait and separated from the open Pacific Ocean by the islands of the Philippines, Taiwan, and Borneo.

There are two main archipelagos in the South China Sea: the Spratly Islands located in the South and the Paracel Islands located in the North, and depending on how an island is defined, it is estimated it is home to between 150 and 300 land features.

The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development estimates that roughly 80 percent of global trade by volume and 70 percent by value is transported by sea. Of that, 60 percent of maritime trade volume passes through Asia, with the South China Sea carrying an estimated one-third of global shipping.

The sea is also one of the richest marine life areas in the world, representing about 10 percent of the world’s fish catch. In addition to marine living resources, the South China Sea is proven to contain abundant oil and natural gas reserves. For this reason, the sea is sometimes described as a “second Persian Gulf.”

The strategic importance of the South China Sea, however, goes beyond the transport routes and the resources the sea offers. The sea constitutes also a natural barrier between its littoral countries – especially China – and the open oceans.

Territorial claims in the South China Sea on (based on unofficial documents / maps).

Source: Wikipedia.

The South China Sea disputes

The South China Sea is disputed among six claimants, including Brunei, China, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Vietnam. However, Brunei is mostly left off the list due to its small scale of disputes. Taiwan is also omitted in various statistics due to its unclear sovereign status.

The Paracel Islands have been bilaterally contested between China and Vietnam while the Spratly Islands have been disputed either entirely or partly by China and the other five claimant states. All of them except Brunei have a physical presence in their respective claimed areas of the sea.

Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei base their claims over the land features and the waters largely on the principle of proximity. Vietnam and the Philippines also use historical reasons and arguments of discovery to support their sovereignty claims over land features in the sea. In contrast, China claims nearly the entire South China Sea based mainly on its historical “nine-dash line” claim.

China currently occupies all of the Paracel Islands, while the Spratly Islands are occupied by various claimants. By 2019, the 48 land features in the Spratly Islands were occupied by five claimants with Vietnam controlling the most – 21 features, followed by the Philippines with 9 features, China with 7, Malaysia with 5 and Taiwan with 1.

During the last several decades, China, the Philippines and Vietnam have reclaimed land and built military bases to assert their sovereignty. However, China’s efforts on this front have been the most aggressive.

According to the US government, since 2014, China has reclaimed more than 3,000 acres in the Spratly Islands. China says its reclamation projects are to meet its civil and defence needs.

While China’s reclamation of the reefs grabs most attention, its pace of building activity is what has astonished some experts. According to one US source, there are currently 2,155 buildings on the islands and artificial islands of both the Paracels and Spratlys, of which 1,652 were built by China alone.

According to the source, China’s military bases on man-made islands in the disputed South China Sea are virtually complete. What we can do now is to wait for China’s next move, possibly in the form of deployments of marines, jet fighters, long-range missiles, and other weaponry.

How does China justify its behaviour in the South China Sea disputes? China claims that the South China Sea belongs to China since ancient time, and looking through this lens, China believes that it has never been a trouble maker but rather a victim in the disputes.

What China is doing is to find ways and means to recover their lost territories and to prevent their precious natural mineral and maritime resources from being stolen by other claimants.

China’s historical claim of sovereignty in the South China Sea

China’s claims of sovereignty over the South China Sea islands and reefs rest on the basis of “historical rights” of ancient Chinese, who allegedly traversed the waters “more than 2,000 years ago” or, more specifically, since the year 200 B.C. As China claims the South China Sea as its “historical water”, this predates and therefore precludes any possible claims from other nations as well as the application of modern international laws relating to territorial disputes, including United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

China most often uses its “04-First” logic to back up its claim of sovereignty. Firstly, China claims it was the first country to discover the South China Sea. According to Beijing, as far back as the Qin and Han dynasties (200 B.C.), China engaged in large-scale ocean navigation, trade and fishing in the South China Sea. It was in their frequent navigation through the sea that the Chinese people became the earliest people to discover and then settle in the islands. For that reason, China’s claim of sovereignty over the South China Sea islands predates that of other nations.

Secondly, China also claims that it was the first country to give names to the islands, islets, reefs and shoals, such as Qianli Changsha, Wanli Shitang, Wangli Changsha and Nan’ao Qi, as well as the South China Sea itself.

Thirdly, according to China, it was the first country to exercise administrative jurisdiction over the islands of the South China Sea. The Chinese government set up administration over, and divided islands in the South China sea into four groups: the Dongsha (East Sand), Zhongsha (Central Sand), Nansha (South Sand), and Xisha (West Sand) Archipelago.

Lastly, China argues that it was the first country to develop the sea’s islands, including building structures, surveying, drawing maps, and other activities.

Besides its “04-First” argument, Beijing also contends that its historical claim has been recognised by the international community through various international treaties and declarations, including the Cairo Declaration of 1943, the Potsdam Declaration of 1945, the Treaty of San Francisco in 1951, the Sino- Japanese Peace Treaty in 1952, among others.

By 2019, 48 land features in the Spratly Islands were occupied by five Vietnam (21 features), the Philippines (9), China (7), Malaysia (5) and Taiwan (1).

Validity of China’s historical claim of sovereignty

Central to China’s claim is the argument that it has exercised “absolute control” of South China Sea waters, islands and reefs since the Han Dynasty, with “countless maps” allegedly attesting to these assertions. However, available evidence suggests that prior to the twentieth century, China had no territorial claims anywhere past Hainan island at the northern end of the sea.

Up until now, the only recognisable map from China justifying its territorial claims in the South China Sea is the nine-dash line map. This map was first issued in 1935 by Republic of China’s Land and Water Maps Inspection Committee and reissued later by the victorious People’s Republic of China.

The map, however, has never possessed defined geographical coordinates nor any official explanation of a legal basis underlying its claims. The map was first publicised to wider audiences by Beijing when it submitted a Note Verbale containing the map to the UN in 2009. Once again, without supporting legal explanations.

Besides this map, there is not a single ancient map supporting China’s territorial claim in the South China Sea. In addition, there is currently no official presentation from China featuring any such “countless maps” in its numerous announcements on the subject.

The possible explanation for Beijing’s strategic ambiguity is that it aims to achieve optimal space for manoeuvring without being bound by legal certainties or definitions. By keeping the claim ambiguous, it hopes that its modern Navy transformations would render that ambiguity to its advantage in due time.

Contrasting China’s claim, available ancient maps, both from China and abroad, such as the “Huangyu quan lan tu” (Atlas of the Chinese Empire) of 1717, show Hainan island as the southernmost point of Chinese territory. Other maps from the Qing Dynasty going back to the Tang Dynasty [618 - 907 AD] also show that China had no territory beyond Hainan Island.

In addition, although Beijing provides evidence arguing that it was the first country to discover the South China Sea and its land features, the Chinese government and its scholars have provided only loose historical descriptions of activities by Chinese fishermen and naval craft in the South China Sea.

For example, China argues that its frequent and large-scale ocean navigation, trade and fishing through the sea means that Chinese people were the first to discover and then settle in its islands. However, about 2,000 years ago, this sea was already a busy transport route crisscrossed by many peoples. It is thus not at all clear why Chinese historical claims should have a preference in comparison with other claimants.

Source: CIA (flags added by Estarapapax) / Wikimedia.

China’s perspective of its sovereignty and the resolution of the disputes

As mentioned earlier, China views the South China Sea as its “historical waters” and that the Paracel and Spratly Islands and other land features within the nine-dash line have belonged to China since ancient time. This perspective leads China to believe that there is actually no territorial dispute in relation to the sea as this area is China’s lost territory. From this perspective, Beijing also arrives at an altogether different understanding from other claimants.

The South China Sea disputes is a complicated issue and there are various factors contributing to their dynamics and complexity. However, above all, it is China’s perspective of its absolute sovereignty in the South China Sea and its claim of “historical water” that is the main obstacle for the possible resolution of the South China Sea disputes.

This article is based on a presentation delivered in Rotorua at the Asia Pacific Security and Innovation Summit 2019.