Whats Chinas nine-dash line and why has it created so

much tension in the South China Sea?

At the heart of the South China Sea dispute is the nine-dash line,
Beijings claim that encircles as much as 90 per cent of the contested waters. The line runs as far as 2,000km from the Chinese
mainland to within a few hundred kilometres of the Philippines,
Malaysia and Vietnam. Beijing maintains it owns any land or features
contained within the line, which confers vaguely defined historical
maritime rights.

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The Philippines is contesting the claims at the Permanent Court of
Arbitration in The Hague, with a ruling expected to be delivered on
Tuesday. In its submissions, Manila argues the line exceeds the limits
of maritime entitlements permitted under the UN Convention on the
Law of the Sea (Unclos).

The Philippines also asked the tribunal to classify whether a number

of disputed areas are islands, low-tide coral outcrops or submerged
banks to determine the stretch of territorial waters they are entitled
to under the convention. The convention does not deal with
sovereignty questions, which the Philippine government says it did
not raise.
What is the origin of the line?
It appeared on a Chinese map as an 11-dash line in 1947 as the
then Republic of Chinas navy took control of some islands in the
South China Sea that had been occupied by Japan during the second
world war. After the Peoples Republic of China was founded in 1949
and Kuomintang forces fled to Taiwan, the communist government
declared itself the sole legitimate representative of China and
inherited all the nations maritime claims in the region.

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South China Sea
But two dashes were removed in the early 1950s to bypass the
Gulf of Tonkin as a gesture to communist comrades in North
Vietnam.
Beijing intensified its hold in the northern part of the waters in the
mid-1970s when it expelled the South Vietnamese navy from the
Paracel Islands after a clash that saw dozens killed.
Seven out of about 200 reefs in the Spratly Islands came under
Chinese control in the 1980s and 1990s and Scarborough Shoal in
2012. Taiwan still maintains its maritime claims in the region and
has kept a military garrison on Pratas Islands and the largest natural
feature in the Spratlys, Taiping.
Why is the line so important?
It serves as the basis of Chinas claim to historical rights in the

region, as neither Beijing nor Taipei ever held effective control over
the entire region encompassing more than 2 million sq km. Other
claimants such as the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei root their
claim in geographical proximity, while Vietnam, which occupies the
largest number of islands and reefs in the Spratlys, at 29, stresses it
actively administers the area. The Philippines is challenging the
legality of the line at the international tribunal under Unclos.

What will guide Chinas response to the South China

Sea tribunal ruling?
According to the treaty, a nation has sovereignty over waters
extending 12 nautical miles from its land and exclusive control over
economic activities 200 nautical miles out. Beijing maintains it has
historical evidence proving its control of territory further out to sea.
If the Philippines wins, Chinas claims would be seriously
undermined and neighbouring states would have a legal
endorsement for their position.

Beijing argues the nine-dash line emerged in the new world order after the
second world war and came well before the 1982 Unclos. Beijing says China
accepted the Japanese surrender and reclaimed the region with legal backing
and the authorisation of the Allies. Other claimants in the region and the US
expressed no objections at the time, it argues.

What is Beijings strategy with the nine-dash line?

Beijing is a signatory to Unclos, but it has intentionally never defined
the legal meaning of the nine-dash line or what its rights are
within the boundary. This ambiguity has led to the idea among many
ordinary Chinese people that it marks the nations maritime
boundary, but again, Beijing has never made this explicit.
Others say it encircles the area where China demands economic
rights. Another interpretation is the line marks the islands and reefs
China wants to control rather than the waters inside its boundaries. Beijing has long favoured a strategy of ambiguity. It does not openly
go against international law, but prefers to leave space for its more
ambitious claims.
What happens if the tribunal rules against China?
The consensus among legal experts is that the court is unlikely to
rule specifically on the nine-dash line. The court has said earlier it
will not offer a judgment on territorial disputes, but there is a small
chance it may rule on whether there is a legal basis for the line
under the UN convention. If it rules against China, the government
may face increased international pressure to clarify its position on
the lines legal justification. But what is virtually certain is China will
not remove the line from its maps, especially given growing
nationalism.
Beijing has also repeatedly said it will ignore any rulings by the
tribunal. Taiwan has said it stands by its position that all South China
Sea islands are its territory. The islands leader, Tsai Ing-wen, has not
mentioned the nine or 11-dash line and has emphasised it will
adhere to international law. If she were to give up the nine-dash line

claims following the ruling, cross-strait relations would likely be

further strained.