South China Sea Case Study

Question 1

Why is the South China Sea of such strategic importance?

Answer 1

✅ One of the main trading areas in the world

✅ 30% of world’s shipping trade goes through it

Question 2

Why do most SEA countries base their claims for some part of it?

Answer 2

✅ the UN law of the sea which states that a country’s territorial waters extends 200 miles of their shore
✅ Everything within those 200 miles is the sovereign territory of the state

Question 3

Why does China claim 80% of the South China Sea?

Answer 3

✅ Historical right to the Sea

Question 4

How does China mark the territory it claims in the South China Sea?

Answer 4

✅ ‘9-dash line’

✅ Imprecise and ambiguous

Question 5

What is China doing in the South China Sea to enforce their claim?

Answer 5

✅ Building islands and placing military bases on them to slowly but steadily take control of the region
✅ Hard power

Question 6

What has the US done in the South China Sea to challenge China’s claim?

Answer 6

✅ Regular naval operations in the South China Sea to assert navigational rights and freedoms in the contested waters, without prejudice to sovereignty disputes.

Question 7

What did US diplomat David Stillwell argue about China’s role in the South China Sea?

Answer 7

✅ The China sought to “replace international law with rule by threats and coercion”.

Question 8

What kind of clashes have occurred in the South China Sea and which countries did they involve?

Answer 8

✅ Military clashes
✅ Involving Chinese, Vietnamese, Malaysian and Filipino military vessels
✅ Harassing fishermen