South China Sea | 17 Oct 2022

Key Points

• Physical Geography:
  • An arm of the western Pacific Ocean that borders the Southeast Asian mainland.
  • Bordered by Brunei, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam.
  • It is connected by the Taiwan Strait with the East China Sea and by the Luzon Strait with the Philippine Sea (both marginal seas of the Pacific Ocean).
  • Comprise three archipelagoes, namely, the Spratly Islands, Paracel Islands, Pratas Islands and Macclesfield’s Bank and Scarborough Shoal.
• Dispute:
  • China’s Nine Dash Line: Defines area claimed by China - by far the largest portion of the Sea.
  • Scarborough Shoal: Claimed both by the Philippines and China (known as Huangyan Island in China).
  • Spratlys: Occupied by claimants, which consist of Taiwan, Vietnam, the Philippines, China and Malaysia.
  • Paracel Islands: Subject of overlapping claims by China, Vietnam and Taiwan.
  • Island Chain Strategy: A geographical security concept crafted by the United States in the 1940s to deter China and the Soviet Union’s maritime ambitions.
• Recent Related Events:
  • US’ Indo-Pacific Strategy
  • BrahMos Export to Philippines
  • Australia, the UK and the US (AUKUS) Grouping.
  • First in-Person Meeting of Quad Countries
  • 28^th edition of the Singapore-India Maritime Bilateral Exercise (SIMBEX)
  • China’s New Maritime Regulations for Foreign Ships
  • UNSC Meet on Maritime Security