RULES

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discussion.
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The Dispute between
the Philippines and
China on Spratly
Islands
OVERVIEW
The Spratly Island Dispute is an territorial dispute between
China, Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia, Vietnam and
Brunei, concerning “ownership” of the Spratly island, a
group of islands and associated “man time features” (reefs,
banks, and cays, etc.) located in the South China Sea.
 BACKGROUND
Most of the “maritime features in this area have
at least six names: The international name, usua
lly in English ; the Chinese name, sometimes dif
ferent for PRC (People’s Republic of China) and
ROC (Republic of China); (and also in different
character sets); the Philippine, Vietnamese and
Malaysian names, and also, there are alternate n
ames (e.g. Spratly Island is also known as storm
Island), and sometimes names with European origi
ns (French, Portuguese, Spanish, British, etc.)
In the Philippine territory, the Spratly islands are important for
economic and strategic reasons. The Spratly area holds
potentially significant, but largely unexplored, reserves of oil
and natural gas, it is a productive area for world fishing, it is one
of the busiest areas of commercial shipping traffic, and
surrounding countries world get an extended continental shelf if
their claims were recognized. In 2014, China drew increased
international attention due to its dredging activities within the
Spratly, amidst speculation it is planning to further develop its
military presence in the area.
 The Philippines claims part of the area as its territory under
UNCLOS (United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea),
an agreement parts of which have been notified by the countries
involved in the Spratly islands dispute.
 China’s sweeping claims of sovereignty over the sea and the
sea’s estimated billion barrels of untapped oil and 190 trillion
cubic feet of natural gas have antagonized competing claimants
Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Taiwan, and Vietnam.
As early as the 1970’s countries began to claim islands and
various zones in the South China Sea, such as the Spratly islands,
which possess rich natural resources and fishing areas.
What is the controversy between the
Philippines and China?
The Philippines and China have been in a long-standing
maritime dispute as Beijing claims almost the entirely of the
South China Sea, which overlaps with the West Philippine
Sea. The Philippines scored a victory against China in the
permanent court of arbitration in the Hague, Netherlands in
2016.
President Ferdinand “Bongbong”
Marcos Jr.
Made the statement as he acknowledge that the country’s relation
with the United States are vital to resolving the issue in the West
Philippine Sea. The President said this is the position “we take” and
with our American partners, we have promoted that position.
He said the Philippines’ ties with the US could contribute to keeping
tensions in the Asia-Pacific region at bay.
The Philippines is pushing for partnerships with its
neighbors, especially the partners of the Associated of
Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), Marcos said. The
Philippines is a Key US ally and strategically located in case
of a need to defend Taiwan militarily from a mainland
Chinese attack.
Content Analysis
 The Philippines and China have been in a long-standing maritime dispute as Beijing
claims almost the entirety of the South China Sea, which overlaps with the West
Philippine Sea. The Philippines scored a victory against China in the Permanent
Court of Arbitration in the Hague, Netherlands in 2016.
 Philippines – China relations have lately been dominated by the territorial disputes
in the West Philippine Sea. Which has escalated since the naval standoff over the
Scarborough Shoal in April 2012 and aggravated by issues of Chinese illegal
occupation, unlawful establishment of infrastructures, and incidents of.
 The Philippines initiates an international arbitration case under UNCLOS over
Chinese claims of sovereignty to the Spratly Islands and Scarborough Shoal
originating from the April 2012 clashes, acting on decades of stalled attempts at
resolution.
Contextual
Analysis
The conflict between China and the Philippines is the result of

years of territorial dispute over the Spratly Islands. The
Spratly are a group of 7,500 islands and reefs in the Western
Philippine Sea. The Philippines filed a case with the UN-
backed Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in The Hague,
Netherlands. In July 16, 2016, the PCA tribunal ruled in favor
of the Philippines. It cited a number of actions by China
including building artificial islands and illegally fishing and
harvesting corals.
THANK
YOU!
 QUESTIONS:
Test 1
 1. What is the meaning of PRC?
 2. What is the meaning of ROC?
 3. What is the meaning of UNCLOS?
 4. Why Spratly Island is important?
 5. ___ claims almost the entirely of the South China Sea.

Test 2
 1. Give astleast four maritime features found in the Spratly Island.(4points)
 2. Give atleast six territorial disputed country on the Spratly Island.(6points)