Opinion | The US is finally taking sides in the South China Sea – against Beijing’s claims

Name: The South China Sea dispute explained
Uploaded: 2020-07-16T01:00:17.000Z
Duration: 3 min 23 s
Description: The South China Sea dispute explained

By aligning the US more closely with the tribunal’s finding in 2016, Pompeo effectively states the nine-dash line has ‘no basis in international law’

While the secretary of state was careful not to say whether Washington favoured one claimant over another, the US finally appears to be taking a side – against China

Reading Time:3 minutes

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Christian Le Miere

Published: 9:00am, 16 Jul 2020Updated: 9:11am, 16 Jul 2020

The battle lines are being drawn and the arena of competition has been chosen. The South China Sea is fast becoming the crucible for competition between the United States and China.

On July 13, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo issued a statement clarifying the US position on the South China Sea. It reiterated the US’ alignment with an international arbitral tribunal brought by the Philippines against China. More importantly, it gave greater specifics on what the US considers to be legal claims in the area.

Areas of the South China Sea are disputed by seven claimants: Brunei, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam. Five of these claimants occupy islands, reefs and shoals in the South China Sea, with more than 90 outposts according to the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative.

The sea is therefore a hotbed of competition among regional states, with overlapping claims, a plethora of military outposts, and regular military and paramilitary activity to intimidate, coerce or restate claims. Two military skirmishes have occurred in the past 50 years between China and Vietnam as both sought to deploy troops on disputed features in the sea.

In 2016, four years after China ousted the Philippines from a feature known as Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea, Manila brought an international tribunal against Beijing seeking to clarify claims and rights. The tribunal found in the Philippines’ favour in most of its claims.

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The South China Sea dispute explained

One of its most important rulings were that none of the features in the Spratly Islands, a collection of 200 or so features in the south of the sea, were natural islands. This is significant because only natural islands are legally entitled to a 200 nautical mile exclusive economic zone that allows states rights to all marine resources in that area.