Spratly Islands - Territorial dispute in the South China Sea
Geopolitics
978-3-14-100890-6 | Page 118 | Ill. 2
Overview
The Spratly Islands stretch from WSW to ENE over 1000 kilometres in the South China Sea. They consist of over 100 widely scattered islands, reefs and atolls. The largest island, Taiping Dao, has an area of just under 0.5 km². The highest elevation is on Southwest Cay at 4 metres. The islands have a tropical climate and are believed to have large oil and gas deposits. The nearest island is Palawan (Philippines) 80 km to the east; the surrounding countries are Malaysia 160 km to the southeast, Vietnam 420 km to the northwest, China (Hainan Island) 900 km to the north and the Republic of China (Taiwan) over 1300 km to the northeast.
Territorial claims by several states
As shown by the dotted lines on the map, Brunei, Malaysia and the Philippines each lay claim to a part of the archipelago. China, Taiwan and Vietnam, on the other hand, lay claim to the entire archipelago. Some of the islands are occupied by the aforementioned states, apart from Brunei. In addition, military garrisons have been established on 40 otherwise uninhabited islands. The interest in the islands, apart from the oil and gas reserves, is due to rich fishing grounds, the strategic location and control of one of the most important shipping routes in the world. About 60,000 merchant ships cross the South China Sea and thus about one third of the world's trade is transacted via the South China Sea. Although the Chinese coast is almost 1000 kilometres away, the People's Republic of China (PRC) is the economically, politically and militarily strongest littoral state. Accordingly, the PRC acts very self-confident in the region. The country stakes its claim on the basis of the so-called "nine-dash line", which was arbitrarily drawn with pen strokes on an old nautical map by the Chinese government. The PRC thus claims not only the islands but also 90 per cent of the sea area. The Philippines challenged the Chinese seizure of the islands before the International Court of Justice in The Hague and the Permanent Court of Arbitration ruled in their favour in 2016. But since China does not recognise the Court, it ignored the judgement and created facts in the meantime.
Author:
Sarah Franz
Current situation in the Spratly Islands
In the meantime, the Chinese have built runways, airports, buildings and support facilities on the islands, stationed thousands of soldiers and installed weapons and radar systems. In addition, research is being conducted on how to grow food on the sparse, infertile soil. On a much smaller scale, Vietnam, Taiwan, Malaysia and the Philippines have also upgraded some islands.
The increasing armament on a strategically important route for world trade is also viewed critically by the USA. With the argument of controlling free navigation in international territories, the US navy patrols the area with warships.
Author:
Sarah Franz
