What’s behind the South China Sea dispute?

China and its neighbours all want a piece of the South China Sea. Rights to fish, territory, oil and gas. This fight has it all, including the potential for war.

International Court has ruled China's claims in South China Sea illegal

 

Some 20-33% of global trade by sea passes through the South China Sea. It is also home to rich fishing grounds. Located in Southeast Asia, the South China Sea is claimed almost in its entirety by China,

Shrinking fish stocks raise tensions in the South China Sea

Fishermen claim being harassed or rammed by Chinese vessels. Plus, the firing of an Australian mining company boss.

In the disputed South China Sea, fishermen are being driven further from their shores due to dwindling catches, forcing them to encroach into territorial waters belonging to neighbouring countries.

Tensions have risen as China claims 80 percent of the South China Sea and has sent out the world’s biggest naval force to defend its territory.

 

Why China is building islands in the South China Sea

China is building islands in the South China sea and its causing disputes among the other nations in the region; Malaysia, the Philippines, Brunei, Vietnam, and Indonesia. The US has many allies in the region and uses its massive Navy to patrol international waters, keeping shipping lanes open for trade

Donald Trump Attacks China On Twitter

Donald Trump has throughout the presidential primaries, general campaign and even since the election that he's incapable of  dealing with criticism on his policy positions.  (He has shown an inability to deal with the vagaries of life.)  As in earlier instances his complete lack of knowledge of the subject has given rise to political and diplomatic headaches for all parties involved.  This last burst of outrage follows his telephone conversation with the President of Taiwan Tsai ing wen on Friday.

The last part of his tweet is the most disconcerting given the fraught nature of current diplomatic situation in the South China sea.  In November of 2014 the Chinese issued what it called the Nine-Dashed Line map which claimed 90% of the South China fell under Chinese control.  China isn't the only player in this dispute which involves 6 other countries.  For example: Accepting China's claim as it stands would allow Beijing to claimed waters with the known and recognized exclusive economic and territorial zone of The Philippines.  The Philippines is, but of the nations involved in this dispute.  China to further enforce its claims as a fait aclopmli has constructed several artificial islands in the sea and started constructing military bases on them.  

Donald Trump is angry and lashing out  due to his diplomatic faux pas involving the President of Taiwan and their telephone conversation.   Since 1979 when the U.S. and other nations recognized the one China policy direct diplomatic relations with the government of Taiwan were severed.  This diplomatic fiction has allowed for stability in the region.  Conducting foreign policy through angry twitter rants will only lead to political and diplomatic isolation of the incoming Trump administration as no country will want to deal with a world leader unable to control his emotional outbursts.

 

China accuses Japan of threatening Pacific peace with military law

Let's just how dangerous China, I mean Japan really is?  Did Japan create a military exclusion zone in territories claimed by China? No, but China did when they claimed ownership of the Senkaku islands which have been part of Japan since 1898.  Did Japan claim it owned the whole of the East China sea or the Sea of Japan simply because their name is on it? No, of course not. China though created and claimed 90% of the South China sea when they issued their Dash 9 map in November of 2014.  Japan hasn't constructed artificial islands to further its territorial claims, but China has.  Who's threatening the peace in Asia? It certainly isn't  Japan.  That said when the Japanese Diet passed those security laws in September of last year even though public opinion was overwhelming against their passage which included large demonstrations.  


Claims follows passing of law allowing Japanese troops to fight on foreign soil for first time since end of second world war

China has accused Japan’s “warlord” prime minister, Shinzo Abe, of threatening peace in the region, following the enactment on Tuesday of controversial laws allowing Japanese troops to fight on foreign soil for the first time since the end of the second world war.

The security laws, which were passed last September after chaotic scenes in parliament, reinterpret the country’s pacifist constitution to enable Japan to exercise collective self-defence – or coming to the aid of the US and other allies – in overseas conflicts.

In an online commentary, the state-run Xinhua news agency accused Abe of abandoning Japan’s postwar constitution, which limits the military to a purely defensive role, saying the move would “only serve to endanger the Japanese public’s right to live in peace”.

China Places Missiles On DIsputed South China Sea Island

In Novmber of 2014 China issued its Dash 9 map which claimed 90% of the South China Sea.

Since then the Chinese government has created several artificial islands in an effort to further bolster its claims over the disputed waters.  In April of 2015 China moved an oil drilling rig into an area near the Paracel  Islands causing violent widespread anti Chinese demonstartions in Vietnam.  Now its been revealed that the Chinese military has placed surface to air missiles on of the artificial islands causing governments in the region to seek further military corporation with the U.S.

From the Guardian:

Tensions in the South China Sea, a vital shipping route, could rise after two batteries of eight missile launchers and a radar system were deployed to Woody Island in the past week according to images taken by the private company ImageSat International.

The images were first published by Fox News. Chinese foreign minister, Wang Yi, did not deny that missile launchers had been installed but said the reports were an attempt by “certain western media to create news stories”.

“As for the limited and necessary self defence facilities China has built on islands and reefs stationed by Chinese personnel, that is consistent with the self defence and self preservation China is entitled to under international law,” he said.

China is also in a territorial dispute with Japan over the Senkaku Islands in the East China sea which have been a part of Japan since 1898.

The goverment in Beijing keeps insisting that its intentions are peaceful yet its actions would say otherwise considering the now placed missiles and the constant intrutisions by armed Chinese navel vessiles into Japanese territorial waters.

China Holds It's Breath and Stomps Its Feet Over Volleyball Game

China has thrown a tantrum over a volleyball match between the Philippines and Vietnam that a 6 year old would appreciate.  The match took place on a island controlled by Vietnam but which is claimed by China along with the rest of the South China sea.  China is like a newly rich spoiled child and wants everything its way or else they're going to hold their breath until their faces turn blue.  Which will show those malcontents they really mean business.

The gathering on the Vietnamese-held Southwest Cay in the contested Spratly archipelago on Sunday was billed as a display of unity that underscored growing cooperation between Vietnam and the Philippines. Both countries, along with China, claim the Southwest Cay, and Hanoi and Manila have felt clashed with China over the disputed South China Sea and its islands.
Philippine naval officials described the meeting of soldiers from the two sides, which also featured soccer and a tug-of-war competition, as a chance to show there can be harmony despite a web of overlapping claims to the potentially energy-rich waters.
But the gesture was certain to anger China, which issued its first response to the gathering on Monday.
"Don't you think this small move together by Vietnam and the Philippines is at most a clumsy farce?" China's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said at a daily briefing.
"China has irrefutable sovereignty over the Spratly Islands and the seas nearby," she said. "We demand that Vietnam and the Philippines stop any behavior that picks quarrels and causes trouble ... and not do anything to complicate or magnify the dispute."