0.1661
900 319 0030
x

Dispute over Paracel and Spratly Islands - China's Moves

iasparliament Logo
April 27, 2020

Why in news?

  • In the middle of the global coronavirus pandemic, China is busy increasing its presence in the South China Sea.
  • This has again brought the dispute over Spratly and Paracel Islands to the fore.

What are the recent developments?

  • Both these isalnds are in the middle of the South China Sea waters, between the territory of Vietnam and the Philippines.
  • Very recently, Beijing unilaterally renamed 80 islands and other geographical features in the area.
  • This drew criticism from neighbouring countries who have also laid claim to the same territory.
  • If the dispute were to aggravate, it could likely have serious consequences for diplomatic relations and stability in the region.

What is the Spratly Islands dispute about?

  • This relates to the tussle over the ownership of the Spratly Islands archipelago and nearby geographical features like corals reefs, cays etc.
  • The ongoing territorial dispute is among China, Taiwan, Vietnam, the Philippines, and Malaysia.
  • Since 1968, these nations have engaged in varying kinds of military occupation of the islands and the surrounding waters.
  • The only exception is Brunei that has contained its objections to the use of its maritime waters for commercial fishing.
  • The Spratly Islands are largely uninhabited.
  • But there is a possibility that they may have large reserves of untapped natural resources.
  • However, due to the ongoing dispute, there have been few initiatives to explore the scale of these reserves.
  • So, the amount of natural resources present there is based on speculation and extrapolation by studying resources available in nearby islands.
  • In the 1970s, oil was discovered in neighbouring islands, specifically off the coast of Palawan.
  • This discovery ramped up territorial claims by these countries.
  • Over the years, US government agencies have claimed that there is little to no oil and natural gas in these islands.
  • But these reports have done little to reduce the territorial dispute.

What is the Paracel Islands dispute about?

  • The Paracel Islands dispute is slightly more complex.
  • This archipelago is a collection of 130 islands and coral reefs and is located in the South China Sea.
  • This is almost equidistant from China and Vietnam.
  • Beijing says that references to the Paracel Islands as a part of China sovereign territory can be found in 14th century writings from the Song Dynasty.
  • Vietnam on the other hand, says that historical texts from at least the 15th century show that the islands were a part of its territory.
  • These islands also find mention in records starting from the 16th century by explorers who led expeditions to the East.
  • These include the Portuguese, British, Dutch, French and Spanish.
  • They have all written about the Paracel Islands in various texts.
  • Colonial powers of the French-Indochina further accelerated the tensions with regard to the Islands due to their colonial policies in the 20th century.
  • By 1954, tensions had dramatically increased between China and Vietnam over the archipelago.
  • In January 1974, China and Vietnam fought over their territorial disputes after which China took over control of the islands.
  • In retaliation, in 1982, Vietnam said it had extended its administrative powers over these islands.
  • In 1999, Taiwan jumped into the fray laying its claim over the entire archipelago.
  • Since 2012, China, Taiwan and Vietnam have attempted to reinforce their claims on the territory.
  • They have engaged in construction of government administrative buildings, tourism, land-reclamation initiatives etc.
  • Countries have also established and expanded military presence on the archipelago.

What are China's recent moves?

  • China recently established new administrative districts on both Spratly and Paracel Islands.
  • Following this, the Chinese government had renamed 80 islands, reefs and other geographical features around the two archipelagos with Chinese names.
  • The last time China had unilaterally engaged in a similar initiative was in 1983 (287 geographical features had been renamed in the disputed chain of islands).
  • In the past few years, China has stepped up military aggression and has created artificial islands for military and economic purposes in the South China Sea.
  • This invited criticisms from neighbouring countries and other western powers as well.
  • Recently, Vietnam had lodged a complaint at the UN stating that China had illegally sunk a fishing trawler near Paracel Islands, killing 8 people on board.
  • In March 2020, China built two research stations on territory claimed by the Philippines.

What is the U.S.'s role?

  • The US has no territorial claims in the South China Sea.
  • But it is known to send its naval force into the waters each time there are provocative developments in the waters, particularly angering China.
  • Following China’s renaming of the islands, the US sent in an assault ship and a guided missile cruiser into the waters near Spratly and Paracel Islands, off the coast of Malaysia.
  • Soon after, Chinese and Australian warships also entered the fray.
  • The arrival of American warships, indicate that the US’s presence may only serve to heighten tensions.

 

Source: Indian Express

Login or Register to Post Comments
There are no reviews yet. Be the first one to review.

ARCHIVES

MONTH/YEARWISE ARCHIVES

Free UPSC Interview Guidance Programme