LEXIMUN 2022

Conflict Committee 3- UN General Assembly 4th Committee

(SPECPOL)

Agenda: Addressing the Issue of the South China Sea

 Table of Content

Sr. No. Topic

1 Letter from the EB

2 Introduction

3 Causes for dispute in the South China Sea

4 Effects

5 Important Players

6 Convention, Treaties, Pacts

7 Conclusion

8 QARMA

9 Bibliography & Additional Links for Reference

 Letter from the Executive Board
Dear Delegates,

The Executive Board of the Conflict Committee 3- UN General Assembly 4th

Committee (SPECPOL) welcomes each one of you to LEXIMUN 2022. We are
delighted to inform you that the agendas for the conference and the entire direction
for it, is even further driven in the direction of substantive discussion and research.
As a result, this study guide will offer you with a lot of information about the agenda.
We are excited to be part of the executive board of this esteemed committee, which
deals with a variety of subjects which include those related to demilitarization and
illegal occupation of sovereign territories among a range of other functions which
focus on maintaining international peace and security. At this MUN, we will try to
discuss a specific region that has been disputed by the concerned parties for six
decades. This region is that of the South China Sea.
This issue of South China Sea has plagued East Asia to a point where if an immediate
solution does not emerge from the global leaders, the world may head towards a
nuclear war or even further disaster which might completely paralyze the region.
It is up to the delegates of this esteemed council to step up and provide solutions for
this problem and lead the world towards a better working solution which the political
leaders of the concerned countries have still not managed to come up with.
We look forward to an engaging debate filled with comprehensive solutions that will
enrich our perspectives with a hopeful future!

We are looking forward to a great, insightful debate!

Regards,

Executive Board,

Conflict Committee 3- UN General Assembly 4th Committee (SPECPOL)

LEXIMUN 2022
 Introduction
Overview
• South China Sea is an arm of western Pacific Ocean in Southeast Asia.
• It is south of China, east & south of Vietnam, west of the Philippines and north
of the island of Borneo.
• It is connected by Taiwan Strait with the East China Sea and by Luzon Strait
with the Philippine Sea.

The entire region of South China Sea can be divided into two parts: the Paracel Islands
(Hoang Sa) that are in dispute amongst China, Taiwan, and Vietnam and the Spratly
Islands (Truong Sa) whose sovereignty is being disputed by the PRC, Brunei,
Malaysia, the Philippines, and Vietnam. Although most of these islands are
uninhabited but various countries have naval presence in these islands to strengthen
territorial claims.

This sea holds tremendous strategic importance for its location as it is the connecting
link between the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean (Strait of Malacca). According
to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) one-
third of the global shipping passes through it, carrying trillions of trade which makes
it a significant geopolitical water body.

A map pointing out the area of dispute

Importance

Islands in South China Sea hold international importance due to the following
reasons:

• Oil and Gas resources: Islands in the South China Sea region have gargantuan
oil reserves which are estimated at 7.5 billion barrels. Currently, the oil
production in the region is believed to be over 1.3 million barrels per day. While
these are the global estimates, China firmly believes that oil resources in the
South China Sea region could be as high as 213 billion barrels with Spratly and
Paracel Islands contributing 105 billion barrels of oil. These estimations have
further aggravated the conflict with many countries joining the race to claim
sovereignty over these islands. Estimates also indicate that 60% -70% of the
region’s resources are bestowed in form of natural gas. Since usage of natural
gas is projected to grow in East Asia by 5%, countries in the region are rushing
to claim the islands.

• Fishing Opportunities: The South China Sea region is very ripe for fishing
opportunities globally. It is estimated that 10% of the world’s ocean-caught fish
come from the region. Fishing industry in the region also generates huge
employment. Ocean flora and fauna are also abundant in the region. South
China Sea also hosts large reefs, like the Scarborough Shoal, and unique
maritime wildlife. Maritime wildlife and potential fishing opportunities could
raise billions of dollars of revenue for countries to fully explore the resources
of these islands.

• Busy Shipping Route: South China Sea shipping route is one of the most
prominent transportation route in the world. The region is believed to handle
three times the traffic that passes through the Suez Canal and five times that
passes through Panama Canal. The location of the South China Sea is very
strategic and is critical to the transportation route worldwide as it connects
Indian Ocean to the Pacific. Half the world’s merchant ships pass through this
route. Economies of a lot of countries, not only the countries involved in the
South China Sea dispute are severely dependent upon the revenue generated
and the potential benefits of this region. Keeping the South China Sea open for
commercial navigation is of utmost priority for the entire world to sustain the
trade facilitated by this route.
 A map pointing out the important routes in the South China Sea

Origin of South China Dispute

The main conflict in the South China Sea dates to 1279, when China drew a territorial
map of its influence that included the entire South China Sea. Since then, control over
the region has changed hands between regional powers and, later, colonial states.
However, most people agree that the bulk of the current problems stem from the 1951
San Francisco Treaty, which followed Japan’s defeat in World War II. Within the
terms of its surrender, Japan gave up its rights to its islands in the South China Sea,
leaving a power vacuum in the region. No country was explicitly granted sovereignty
over these waters, and China (the Kuomintang Government) asserted its advantage
by submitting the now infamous “nine-dotted line” claim covering almost the entire
South China Sea in 1947. This line became its official claim and is known today as the
“Nine-Dash Line” (Khoury, E., 2017). In 1982, the United Nations law established the
exclusive economic zones (EEZs). Right after, China reiterated its nine-dash line,
refusing to clarify the limits of this line and rejecting the claims of other claimant
countries. Ever since, tensions have built up over who owns the South China Sea. In
the meantime, the conflict has focused on the Paracel and Spratly Islands, an
archipelago located in the heart of the South China Sea. Currently, China, Malaysia,
the Philippines and Vietnam claim part of the Paracel and Spratly Islands chain. They
have asserted their claims by setting up small ships, ports and even people on what
is essentially a rock in the middle of the ocean.
 Causes for dispute in the South China Sea
➢ Contesting claim over islands
• The Paracel Islands are claimed by China, Taiwan and Vietnam.
• The Spratly Islands are claimed by China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Brunei and
Philippines.
• The Scarborough Shoal is claimed by Philippines, China and Taiwan.

➢ China’s Assertion
• Since 2010, China has been converting uninhabited islets into artificial islets
to bring it under UNCLOS (examples like Haven Reef, Johnson South Reef
and Fiery Cross Reef).
• China has been changing the size and structure of the reefs by modifying
their physical land features. It has also established airstrips on Paracel and
Spratly.
• Chinese fishing fleets are engaged in parliamentary work on behalf of the
state rather than the commercial enterprise of fishing.

Map of countries claiming areas in the South China Sea

Other Issues:

• Undefined geographic scope of the South China Sea.

• Disagreement over dispute settlement mechanisms.

• Undefined legal status of the Code of Conduct (COC) add to it.

• The different histories of distant, largely uninhabited archipelagos of the

sea make the matter more complicated and multifaceted.

Undefined Geographic scope of the South China Sea

 Effects

• The South China Sea Dispute has adversely affected the territories involved in
the dispute but along with them, other countries involved in trade with them
are affected.

• It is one of the most vital trade routes and it is important to end the dispute
over the South China Sea so that trade and economic activities of the country
are not disrupted.

• Also, the US is playing a very important role in mending the dispute because
it has wide-ranging security commitments in East Asia and is allied with
several of the countries bordering the South China Sea, such as the
Philippines, Singapore, and Vietnam. So any dispute among them will
directly affect the US.

Protests erupted in Philippines

 Important Players
➢ China
• People’s Republic of China claims sovereignty for the entire region of South
China Sea without leaving any room for negotiation.

• Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi remarked that “The determination of the

Chinese side to safeguard our own sovereignty and territorial integrity is as
firm as a rock, and it is unshakable”.

• China’s 1992 Territorial Law classified the South China Sea as China’s
internal waters, meaning foreign naval vessels and aircraft must first gain
Beijing’s permission before entering, the region and that China retains the
right to evict other countries’ shipping at any time.

• Chinese media and government believe that the issue of South China Sea is
much like Tibet, Xinjiang and Taiwan, and hence they refer to it as the ‘blue
territory’, which China should defend and protect with all its might.

• People’s Republic of China is also of the view that territorial disputes must
be settled bilaterally instead of international arbitration as proposed by the
Philippines.

• It also does not believe the application of the UNCLOS (explained later in the
study guide) in this issue

➢ Vietnam
• Vietnamese claim to the region is as old as China’s. Vietnamese emperors sent
expeditions to the Paracel islands.
• When Vietnam was colonized by the French, the territory of Spratly Islands
was occupied by them. After Vietnam gained independence from the French,
they sought to inherit the French colonial claim to the islands. However, it is
not the islands that the Vietnamese inherited but merely the claims to those
islands.

• Vietnam lost their claim territory of Paracel islands to China in 1974,

following a naval skirmish.
• To Vietnam, bilateral relationship with China is extremely important for their
economic prosperity and trade investment. However, sovereignty is also as
important for Vietnam and the country has shown preparedness on many
occasions to stand against the military might of China.
• As a result of this, Vietnam has established good bilateral relationship with
United States of America and regularly conducts joint naval exercises with it.
• Vietnam currently controls 29 of the Spratly islands and has reinforced its
military presence in the area to stress their claim.

➢ The Philippines
• The Philippines refers to the eastern part of the South China sea as the West
Philippine Sea in order to contest the "nine-dotted line" claimed by China to
be invalid

• Philippines’s entire contention on the South China Sea is based on

international laws and conventions which are not given enough importance
by China.

• Their claim is based on the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea
(UNCLOS)

• However, the country is extremely weak against their Chinese counterparts

who have much superior naval and military power. To balance this military
might, Philippines has signed a Mutual Defense Treaty with United States of
America in 1951.

• Philippines also shares good relationship with Japan, which is also engaged
in a territorial dispute with the People’s Republic of China in the East China
Sea.

• Eight of the Spratly islands are controlled by the Philippines

Positioning of naval powers by all contestants

 ➢ United States of America
• Although the United States of America has not taken any sides in the issue of
South China Sea, continued Chinese aggression in the region has made the
US extremely wary and concerned about the safety of its East Asian allies.

• US struggles to maintain a positive economic and trade relationship with

China while acknowledging the importance of avoiding any further tensions
or aggressive action in the dispute region.

• US has held many joint naval exercises with Vietnam.

• The USA also notes the economic importance of the South China Sea and
seeks to fully support all belligerent countries in reaching a consensus
regarding the occupation of the region. All other countries in the region are
US allies like South Korea, Japan, the Philippines and Taiwan

➢ Other stakeholders
• The reason why the category called ‘Other stakeholders’ exists is due to their
passive approach in pursuing this matter.
• Countries like Malaysia, Brunei, Taiwan and Indonesia have been unwilling to
get into the conflict of South China Sea in an aggressive or direct manner.
• All of them claim their own respective territorial waters, continental shelves
and respective Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) (in which a state has special
rights regarding the exploration and use of marine resources), the last one
extending for 200 nautical miles.
• Exclusive Economic Zone comes under the ambit of UNCLOS which time and
again has been contested by China.
• Other economic powers like India, Russia and Japan have been extremely
diplomatic and cautious in providing assistance to different nations while
meeting their economic and political interests.
• Japan is already contesting its claim over the over the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands
in the East China sea, and using the South China sea issue as a premise to
present its claim that it is growing more and more worried about China’s
behaviour in the region. Japan wants the conflict to be mediated in accordance
with the international laws.
• Though India has its own territorial disputes with China, it is also involved
economically with Vietnam. India’s state run Oil and Natural Gas Corporation
(ONGC’s) overseas investment firm OBGC Videsh has signed various
 agreements with Vietnamese oil company Petro Vietnam for exploration in
South China Sea. China has time and again referenced India to ‘back off’ from
the indirect standoff.

• Vietnam also has gained immense support from its long term ally Russia.
Their military ties have recently been strengthened with military deals and
pledges of support.
 Conventions, Treaties and Pacts

➢ UNCLOS

• United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), came into force
on 16th of November 1994. The convention slated to regulate navigational
rights, territorial sea limits, and legal status of resources in the sea where
national laws of those particular countries do not apply.
• UNCLOS also supervises the marine resources in regions which may not be in
the territory of any particular country, so that marine life is maintained
• It also aims to provide a binding procedure for settlement of disputes between
States regarding the ownership and usage of the resources within the sea, in
this the South China Sea region.
• The Exclusive Economic Zone is a subset of the UNCLOS, it means: an area
beyond and adjacent to the territorial sea, subject to the specific legal regime
established in this Part, under which the rights and jurisdiction of the coastal
State and the rights and freedoms of other States are governed by the relevant
provisions of this Convention.
• The Philippines has based its claim on the above pretext, where EEZ states that
a country has sovereign right over the 200 nautical miles from the baselines
from which the breadth of the territorial sea is measured
• The region within these 200 nautical miles can be used for exploring, utilizing
and conserving natural resources.
• Hence, under the ambit of this convention we find many underlying problems
associated with the South China Sea conflict

Joint naval exercises between USA and Vietnam

 ➢ b. 2011 agreement

• This was an important milestone that was agreed upon by China and four
ASEAN countries – Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei
• Liu Zhen Min, assistant to China’s Foreign Minister and co-chair of the
meeting, stated “This is an important milestone document in the cooperation
among China and ASEAN countries. Now, we have a bright future that we’re
looking forward to for future cooperation,” he said.
• The agreement was a declaration of conduct, essentially with guidelines under
which negotiation needs to be carried out
• Some of the drafts acknowledged aspects such as "marine environmental
protection, scientific research, safety of navigation and communication, search
and rescue and combating transnational crime,"
• However, issue of oil and natural gas drilling remains unresolved.
 Conclusion

There is no denying that the South China Sea plays a vital role in the relation between
China and ASEAN countries. The overlapping claimants over the South China Sea,
which is abundant in fishery and energy resources is an important sea lane making it
one of the most sensitive issue in the Southeast Asia. Although there are still territorial
disputes concerning the South China Sea between China and ASEAN counterparts,
cooperation, rather than state of war is more likely.
As such, the negotiation of effective conflict prevention and de-escalation mechanisms
between and among the claimant states and other stakeholders should be a priority.
Second, that tensions in the South China Sea have experienced a dramatic upsurge
since the mid-to-late 2000s is indisputable.
The experts agree on many of the triggers, including: rising nationalism over disputed
atolls and waters, a phenomenon which has been promoted by several governments
— China and Vietnam in particular — but which is also organic and has become more
pronounced due to Internet websites and social media; competition over living and
non-living resources, but especially hydrocarbons despite the recent plunge in oil and
gas prices.
 Questions A Resolution Must Answer (QARMA)

➢ Are the territorial claims made in the South China Sea legitimate by all member
nations?
➢ Commitment to the principles of international law, especially the UN convention
of the law on the sea.
➢ Role of UNCLOS in the South China Sea. Is it helping?
➢ Establishing a possible convention which can be used to resolve disputes such as
that of the South China Sea among different nations.
➢ To what extent should the interests of other nations, and players in the world
community be considered?
 Bibliography & Additional Links for Reference

➢ https://www.cfr.org/global-conflict-tracker/conflict/territorial-disputes-south-
china-sea
➢ https://www.lowyinstitute.org/issues/south-china-sea
➢ https://www.wionews.com/world/can-south-china-sea-dispute-escalate-into-a-
full-scale-war-414263
➢ https://www.crisisgroup.org/asia/south-east-asia/south-china-sea
➢ https://thediplomat.com/2021/07/the-global-south-china-sea-issue/
➢ https://thediplomat.com/2021/07/the-global-south-china-sea-issue/
➢ https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-53397673
➢ https://www.aljazeera.com/tag/south-china-sea/
➢ https://www.e-ir.info/2022/06/23/the-role-of-asean-in-the-south-china-sea-
disputes/
➢ https://www.icwa.in/show_content.php?lang=1&level=1&ls_id=6872&lid=4680
➢ https://www.jstor.org/stable/48617340
➢ https://www.southchinasea.org/files/2012/03/Cossa-Security-Implications-of-
Conflict-in-the-S.ChinaSea.pdf