The South China Sea Disputes
✓Since the 1970s, the South China Sea has been a nest of competing sovereignty claims over the island features and ocean spaces by a number of adjacent countries.
✓The South China dispute is over territory, sovereignty and maritime rights and entitlement, particularly along the Paracel and the Spratly island chains.
✓These island chains are claimed by a number of countries in the region including China,Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei.
✓ China through its unilateral 9 dash lines, declared in 1947, claims nearly the entire south China Sea.
✓The islands lie among the world’s busiest shipping lanes and have vast mineral resources around them, making them highly strategic assets.
✓In addition, China has recently engaged in, amongst other things, the physical enhancement of many of the small features of the Spratly Islands and enforcement of a moratorium on fishing in the South China Sea.
