South China Sea or West Philippine Sea?

Abstract

The South China Sea (“West Philippine Sea”) has been for several years a space of potential conflict between several countries due to overlapping of their EEZs and China’s claim of a large part of this oceanic space, well beyond its UN-endorsed EEZ. The Spratly islets and Scarborough shoal are mere coral reefs, uninhabited for the most part, but they lie in the middle of rich fishing grounds and atop large reserves of petroleum and natural gas. Furthermore, the area is one of the world’s busiest sea lanes for commercial navigation. This chapter presents the general rules of UNCLOS (international laws pertaining to oceanic space), and then examines the competing claims, focusing on the China-Philippines dispute. Despite a resounding legal victory of the Philippines at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, Chinese encroachment and buildup has continued. A major uncertainty lies in the level of support of the United States towards the Philippines, which appears as a small local player within a powerful rivalry between two superpowers, but tries to gather support from other Asian nations such as Vietnam and Japan.