Spratly Islands Conflict over territory

1
Spratly IslandsConflict over territory

• Done By
• Jaspel Tan
• Wang Chun Kai

2
Location
3
Background Information

• Consists of more than 750 reefs, islets, atolls,
  cays and islands, over 600 coral reefs
• Total lt 4km of land
• Spread over 425000 sq km of sea
• Important in establishing international
  boundaries
• Rich fishing areas
• Rich in natural resources such as oil and gas

4
History

• 600BC to 3 BC - Chinese maps recorded the Spratly
  islands, and considered it within their national
  boundaries.
• 1834 - Vietnam included the Spratly Islands
  within their maps.
• China and Vietnam laid claim to the Spratly
  Islands simultaneously, but neither side knew
  that each other had charted and claimed the
  Spratly Islands
• In 1968, the Philippines started to take their
  claims a bit more seriously and stationed troops
  on three islands.
• In 1973 Vietnamese troops were stationed on five
  islands.

5
History

• Claiming storm damage, 7 Chinese naval vessels
  entered the area to repair "fishing shelters" in
  Panganiban Reef.
• Malaysia erected a structure on Investigator
  Shoal and landed at Rizal Reef.
• In response the Philippines lodged formal
  protests, demanded the removal of the structures,
  increased naval patrols in Kalayaan and issued
  invitations to American politicians to inspect
  the PRC bases by plane.

6
Early 21st century

• 5th March 2002
• Proposal for a free trade area
• Resolve the problem of sovereignty "without
  further use of force
• Parties may also explore or undertake cooperative
  activities such as marine environmental
  protection marine scientific research safety of
  navigation and communication at sea search and
  rescue operation and combating transnational
  crime.

7
Agreements

• ASEAN and PRC agreement where one country would
  inform the other of any military movement within
  the disputed territory and that there would be no
  further construction.
• The agreement was violated soon by China and
  Malaysia.

8
UNCLOS

• The United Nations Convention on the Law of the
  Sea (UNCLOS) procedure for countries with
  coastlines to submit claims for their continental
  shelf to be extended beyond 200 nautical miles of
  their shores brought the spotlight back to the
  South China Sea and Spratly Islands in May 2009.

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UNCLOS

• Two such submissions were by Vietnam, and another
  jointly by Vietnam and Malaysia for a joint
  claim.
• Brunei has not submitted such a claim but
  notified the UN its intention to claim a
  continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles from
  its shores.
• China immediately issued protests over the two
  submissions and called on the United Nations not
  to consider them. It also issued a stern warning
  to countries not to claim the islands which it
  said were its sovereign territory.

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5 Countries involved in the conflicts
(Main-Players)
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China

• China claimed possession of all of the islands in
  the Spratly region.
• China entered the dispute in three phases.
• The first phase encompassed China's claim to the
  Paracel Islands (North of the Spratly Islands) in
  the 1950s.
• The second phase took place in 1974, when China
  seized the Paracel Islands from Vietnam.
• The third phase began on 14 March 1988, with
  China's military engagement with Vietnamese
  forces over the removal of China's flag from a
  newly claimed shoal. The military clash resulted
  in China gaining possession of 6 islands in the
  Spratly region.

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China

• China's claim to all islands in the Spratly
  archipelago stems from its historical presence in
  the region, dating as far back as the Han dynasty
  of the 2nd century, BC.
• According to Marcus Hall's evaluation, China's
  historical claim is dubious and neglects similar
  historical claims by Taiwan, Vietnam and
  Malaysia. Moreover, China's historical
  interpretation of its sovereignty rights ignores
  current international law.

13
The Philippines

• The Philippines claim approximately 60 of islands
  in the Spratly region.
• Joint exploration with Royal Dutch/Shell Group
  and Alcorn International near the Palawan Island
  will raise the Philippines annual oil production
  from the 3,000 b/d produced in 1991 from 7 wells
  in the South China Sea.

14
Vietnam

• Vietnam claims part of the islands in the Spratly
  region.
• Vietnam's only oil well in production as of 1991
  is the White Tiger field, 400 km west of the
  Crestone block.
• In 1992, however, Vietnam hastened leasing to
  foreign exploration.

15
Taiwan

• Like China, Taiwan claims all of the islands in
  the Spratly region.
• The Spratly Islands are strategically important
  to Taiwan for two reasons
• 1) Important shipping lanes pass through waters
  surrounding the Spratly Islands
• 2) The South China Sea which has an abundant
  supply of fish. Thus, Taiwan feels compelled to
  protect its interests.

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Malaysia

• Malaysia is the earliest oil operator in the sea
  and claims 3 islands and 4 rock groups in the
  Spratly region.
• As of 1992, Malaysia was running 90 oil-
  producing wells, with 210 million planned for
  further development between 1992 and 1995.

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Brunei

• Brunei claims the Louisa Reef in the Spratly
  region, located adjacent to its coastline.
• Brunei became an active player in the Spratly
  disputes only during the recent years. Production
  of its 9 oil fields in the South China Sea hovers
  around 143,000 b/d.

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Other countries that had played a part in the
conflicts indirectly (Side-Players)
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United States

• The United States could become involved on two
  fronts -- commercial and military.
• U.S. businesses participating in off-shore
  exploration in the disputed islands have a
  commercial stake in how inter-state tension and
  disputed claims are resolved.
• On the military side, the United States has a
  mutual defense pact with the Philippines, yet
  analysts indicate the Spratly disputes are
  unlikely to invoke the pact.
• The United States would, however, likely take
  action if maritime activity was restricted in a
  manner inconsistent with international law.

20
Japan

• Japan ,like the United States, has a vested
  interest in the resolution of the Spratly
  disputes.
• The disputed region is located near Japan's
  principal oil imports' shipping lanes.
• Moreover, Japanese companies are involved in some
  of the exploration endeavors in the disputed
  territory.

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ASEAN

• ASEAN members are concerned that the U.S.
  withdrawal of military troops from the region and
  the Soviet Union's disintegration will leave the
  region without a counterbalance to China.
• Although many western analysts view China's
  military capabilities as obsolete, China's
  military power in the ASEAN region is still
  superior, both quantitatively and qualitatively.

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THE END

• Bibliography
• http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spratly_Islands
• http//www1.american.edu/TED/ice/spratly.htm