SOUTH CHINA SEA (Syllabus: GS Paper 1 – Geography)

Context: Context: Recently, the Philippines accused China's coast guard of placing a "floating barrier" in a contested part of the South China Sea, alleging it obstructed Filipino access and fishing rights in the region.

• Both the Philippines and China lay claim to the Scarborough Shoal (known as Huangyan Island in China) – a little more than 100 miles (160km) from the Philippines and 500 miles from China.

South China Sea

• It is one of the world's busiest waterways and plays a crucial role in global trade and merchant shipping.
• Location: The South China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean
• Bordering Countries: The People’s Republic of China, the Republic of China (Taiwan), the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia, Singapore and Vietnam.
• Straits: Taiwan Strait, connecting to the East China Sea; the Luzon Strait, linking to the Philippine Sea; straits surrounding Palawan, connecting to the Sulu Sea; the Strait of Singapore, providing access to the Strait of Malacca; and the Karimata and Bangka Strait, connecting to the Java Sea.
• Reason for Dispute: The South China Sea disputes involve claims over maritime territories and islands by various sovereign states in the region.
• Countries Party dispute: China, Brunei, Taiwan, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia etc.

Claims Over Islands

• The Paracel Islands: Claimed by China, Taiwan and Vietnam.
• The Spratly Islands: Claimed by China, Taiwan, Malaysia, Vietnam, Brunei and the Philippines.
• The Scarborough Shoal: Claimed by the Philippines, China and Taiwan.