Spratly Islands Conflict Analysis



Spratly Islands Conflict Analysis

I. Introduction

The Spratly Islands group, whose ownership is disputed by the People's Republic of China (PRC), Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei, and Taiwan, is located in the middle of the South China Sea, the geostrategic heart of Southeast Asia. The island group includes hundreds of uninhabitable small islands, coral atolls, reefs, and shoals scattered across the South China Sea and covering an area of approximately 180,000 square kilometers. With the possibility of abundant oil and natural gas reserves and marine life resources around the islands, the economic stakes make resolving this territorial dispute challenging.

Although the PRC claims the Spratlies have belonged to China since ancient time, all of the claimants, including Taiwan, occupied islands in the Spratly archipelago before the PRC gained a foothold. In March 1988, following a skirmish with Vietnamese forces, China wrested control of six islands in the Spratly group from Vietnam. North Vietnam initially recognized the islands as Chinese territory, but after the unification of Vietnam in 1975, the Vietnamese government began to claim the Spratly chain and occupied several islands. In 1977, Vietnam established a 320-kilometer (200-mile) exclusive economic zone over part of the South China Sea that included the Spratly Islands.

In 1947, the Philippines claimed some of the islands that lay off its coast. This claim was based on the argument that Japan occupied these islands during World War II but abandoned the islands after the war, leaving them up for grabs. The Philippines undertook various measures, such as naval inspections, tours, and diplomatic notes, to assert its ownership. In 1974, the Philippine navy actually took control of five islands, and in 1978 a presidential decree claimed the Kalayaan Islands, as it terms the islands, as an integral part of the Philippines.

Malaysia asserted a claim to the continental shelf in 1979 and then established an exclusive economic zone adjacent to Borneo in 1980. As a result of those claims, Malaysia claims several islands in the Spratly group and occupies three atolls. Brunei claims the continental shelf off its coast, which includes the Louisa Reef; it too bases its claims to Spratly islands on its claim to the continental shelf. In contrast, other countries base their claims upon prior occupation or discovery.

The sovereignty of the Spratly Islands bas been disputed since the early 1900's. Since the 1970's, the dispute has taken on greater significance in world politics due to the possibility of oil reserves . The fact that China has become the regional hegemony in Southeast Asia has made the dispute more important. If China takes over the archipelago, world politics would be altered as China would in effect turn the South China Sea into a Chinese Lake.

There have been many resolutions proposed in order to eliminate the conflict. However, most authors have focused on peaceful resolutions such as joint development or arbitration. The problem is that the relations between the claimants are not conducive to these resolutions. The establishment of a security community known as military prevention ...