The nine-dash line area claimed by the Republic of China (1912–1949), later the People's Republic of China (PRC), which covers most of the South China Sea and overlaps with the exclusive economic zone claims of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Vietnam.
China Sea, part of the western Pacific Ocean bordering the Asian mainland on the east-southeast. The China Sea consists of two parts, the South China Sea (Chinese: Nan Hai) and the East China Sea (Chinese: Dong Hai), which connect through the shallow Taiwan Strait between Taiwan and mainland China.
Since 2014, the PRC has continued to assert claims to a wide swath of the South China Sea, including a right to draw baselines and closing in internal waters within four geographically dispersed groups of islands and other maritime features.
China and Japan both claim 200 nautical miles (370 km; 230 mi) of EEZ rights, but the East China Sea width is only 360 nautical miles (670 km; 410 mi). China claims an EEZ extending to the eastern end of the Chinese continental shelf (based on UNCLOS III) which goes deep into the Japanese's claimed EEZ.
Both the People's Republic of China (PRC) and the Republic of China (ROC, commonly known as Taiwan) claim almost the entire body as their own, demarcating their claims within what is known as the "nine-dash line", which claims overlap with virtually every other country in the region.
Claimant states are interested in retaining or acquiring the rights to fishing stocks, the exploration and potential exploitation of crude oil and natural gas in the seabed of various parts of the South China Sea, and the strategic control of important shipping lanes.
The South China Sea Islands are part of the territory of the Republic of China. That the ROC is entitled to all rights over the South China Sea Islands and their relevant waters in accordance with international law and the law of the sea is beyond dispute.
China has gained direct access to the Sea of Japan for the first time in 100 years through a North Korean port, leaving Japan and South Korea deeply concerned.
Territorially, there are seven claimants to the South China Sea: China, Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam.
In recent years, China has accelerated its development activities of natural resources in the East China Sea, and the government of Japan has confirmed that there are 18 structures in total on the Chinese side of the geographical equidistance line between Japan and China.
China has internal waters, territorial sea and contiguous zone, based on Nanhai Zhudao. China has exclusive economic zone and continental shelf, based on Nanhai Zhudao. China has historic rights in the South China Sea.
The prosperity of all depends on continued free access to the waters there. Roughly a third of liquid natural gas and a quarter of all global trade flows through the South China Sea, Aquilino said. Bordering nations also rely on the sea for resources as well, such as fishing.
The four seas of China, the Bohai Sea, the Huanghai Sea, the East China Sea, and the South China Sea, occupy a total area of about 4.7 million sq. km, half of the area of Mainland China.
Covering approximately 63 million square miles and containing more than half of the free water on Earth, the Pacific is by far the largest of the world's ocean basins. All of the world's continents could fit into the Pacific basin.
The Chinese mainland is flanked to the east and south by the Bohai, Yellow, East China and South China seas, with a total maritime area of 4.73 million sq km. The Bohai Sea is China's continental sea, while the Yellow, East China and South China seas are marginal seas of the Pacific Ocean.
The South China Sea contains some of the world's most important shipping lanes. The main route to and from Pacific and Indian ocean ports is through the Strait of Malacca and the South China Sea. Generally, oil and minerals move north, and food and manufactured goods move south.
Summary: From December 2013 to October 2015, China built artificial islands with a total area of close to 3,000 acres on seven coral reefs it occupies in the Spratly Islands in the southern part of the South China Sea.
The sea is rich in resources and holds significant strategic and political importance. The area includes several hundred small islands, rocks, and reefs, with the majority located in the Paracel and Spratly Island chains.
During the brief period from 1405 to 1433, seven epic expeditions brought China's "treasure ships" across the China Seas and the Indian Ocean, from Taiwan to the spice islands of Indonesia and the Malabar coast of India, on to the rich ports of the Persian Gulf and down the African coast, China's "El Dorado," and ...
Between 1946 and 1947, China accepted the surrender of Japanese troops in the South China Sea islands at the Yulin Naval Base on the Hainan Island, resumed exercise of sovereignty over the South China Sea islands, including the Nansha Islands, and sent troops to garrison the islands.
Japan is not a direct party to any of the disputes in the South China Sea. It does not have territorial claims in the area. Nor does it have any claim to an exclusive economic zone. Nonetheless, Japan does have vital interests in the area.
The Republic of China government retrieved Taiwan in 1945 back from Japan, then fled in 1949 to Taiwan with the aim to retake mainland China. Both the ROC and the PRC still officially (constitutionally) claim mainland China and the Taiwan Area as part of their respective territories.
Taiwan has become an important U.S. partner in trade and investment, health, semiconductor and other critical supply chains, investment screening, science and technology, education, and advancing democratic values. The United States approach to Taiwan has remained consistent across decades and administrations.
China has sovereignty, sovereign rights and jurisdiction over the Taiwan Strait…” “There is no legal basis of 'international waters' in the international law of the sea.