Spratly

Islands Case
 Spratly Islands

● It is a archipelago that surrounded

by rich fishing grounds and
potentially by gas and oil deposits,
and strategically located near
several primary shipping lanes in
the central South China Sea.
● Spratlys are either uninhabited,
closed military bases, or otherwise
off limits to casual visitors
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 ▰ Named after the 19th-century British
whaling captain Richard Spratly who sighted
Spratley Island in 1843.
▰ The islands contain less than 490 acres of
naturally occuring land area spead over an
area of more than 164, 000 sq. mi
▰ The Spratley Islands contain no significant
arable land, have no indigenous inhabitants,
and very few of the islands have a
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permanent drinkable water supply
 Resources

1. Reserves of oil and natural gas

2. World’s largest commercial fishing
3. Busiest commercial shipping traffic

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 Disputes

● The Spratly Islands dispute is an ongoing territorial dispute

between China, Taiwan, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam,
concerning "ownership" of the Spratly Islands, a group of
islands and associated "maritime features" (reefs, banks,
cays, etc.) located in the South China Sea.

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 Summary of the Case
- The dispute has been affected by the fact
that after Japan renounced all claims to the
Spratly Islands and other islands and
territories in the Treaty of San Francisco
and the Treaty of peace with the Republic
of China.
- Chinese government issued the Declaration
on the Draft Peace Treaty with Japan by the
US and the UK and on the San Francisco
Coverence, reiterating chinese sovereignty
6 over the archipelagos in the South Chinese
 - April 28 1952, the US presided over the
signing of the Treaty of Peace between
Japan and the Republic of China.
- - Japan has renounced all right, title, and
claim to Taiwan and Penghu as well as the
Spratly Islands and the Paracel Islands.

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 - The Philippines bases its claim on its
geographical proximity to the Spratly
Islands.
- May 1956, the dispute escalated after
Filipino national Tomas Cloma and his
followers settled on the islands and
declared the territory as “Freedomland”,
now known ask Kalayaan. And later
requested to make the territory a
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protectorate of the Philippines.
 The conflict is the result of overlapping
sovereignty claims to various Spratly Islands
thought to possess substantial natural
resources.
Overlapping claims resulted in several military
incidents since 1974 and in several countries
awarding foreign companies exploration rights
in the same area of the South China Sea.
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 Regional nation-states not directly involved in
the Spratly disputes became concerned about
regional stability and established a regional
forum to discuss the peaceful resolution of the
disputes.

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 International Core
History

19th century, Europeans found that Chinese

fishermen from Hainan annually sojourned on the
Spratly islands for part of the year, while in 1877 it
was the British who launched the first modern
legal claims to the Spratlys.

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 ▰ When the Spratlys and Paracels were being surveyed
by Germany in 1883, China issued protests against
them.

▰ China sent naval forces on inspection tours in 1902

and 1907 and placed flags and markers on the islands.

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 ▰ The Spratlys and the Paracels were conquered by Japan
in 1939.

▰ In 1946, the Americans reminded the Philippines at its

independence that the Spratlys was not Philippine
territory, both to not anger Chiang Kai-shek in China and
because the Spratlys were not part of the Philippines per
the 1898 treaty Spain signed with America.
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 ▰ The Paracels and Spratlys were handed over to
Republic of China control from Japan after the 1945
surrender of Japan,since the Allied powers assigned
the Republic of China to receive Japanese surrenders
in that area.

▰ In 1947, the Republic of China drew up the map

showing the U shaped claim on the entire South China
14 Sea, showing the Spratly and Paracels in Chinese
 The Republic of China (ROC), which ruled mainland China
before 1949, has been confined to Taiwan since 1949.

North Vietnam recognised China's claims on the Paracels

and Spratlys during the Vietnam War as it was being
supported by China.

The Philippines claimed the Spratlys in 1971 under

President Marcos, after Taiwanese troops attacked and
shot at a Philippine fishing boat on Itu Aba.

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 Since 1992, Malaysia and Vietnam have agreed to
jointly develop areas around these disputed islands.

On 12 July 2016, the arbitrators of the tribunal of PCA

agreed unanimously with the Philippines.

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