THE SOUTH CHINA SEA'S NINE DASH LINE: KEY DISPUTES AND CHINA’S HISTORICAL RIGHTS CLAIMS

Abstract

On the official sovereignty map of China, there is a u-shaped line, which covers an area of about 2.1 million square kilometers in the South China Sea（SCS）region. The Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, and other interested countries have raised many questions about the nine-dash line in recent years. The article has studied such materials as the official statement of China, the treaties and conventions signed by China, and the arbitration award obtained from the Philippines' lawsuit to the Permanent Court of Arbitration（PCA） in 2013 and has made an in-depth study of the legal nature, types of rights and specific rights of the nine-dash line. The study concluded that, first, China's delimitation of the nine-dash line is in line with international customary law and international practice, and this action does not violate the territorial sea regime of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea（UNCLOS）; Second, the nine-dash line in the SCS is not the "national boundary", but it is China's "island ownership line", and also the dividing line between China's maritime rights in the SCS and other countries; Third, the historical rights that China strongly advocates include but are not limited to fishing rights, navigation rights, and oil and gas resources rights; Fourth, the international community should attach importance to and respect China's historical rights view of the nine-dash line sea area. Any ruling that does not respect China's historical rights will not be accepted by China