The South China Sea Disputes : UPSC Daily Important Topic | 23 May 2022

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.