South China Sea Dispute Essays - Foreign Relations,

South China Sea Dispute The Asian Conflict Without Resolution Celeste Jerez World Geography Prof. Adolfo Gonzales UAM College Abstract Many Asian countries have a territorial conflict over the South China Sea. In this paper, it will be stated which countries are among the ones with the conflict, why the conflict started and why after many years it hasn't ended. Territorial conflicts cannot be isolated only in geographical reasons, so also some cultural and historical aspects are considered to conduct the research. Also, the economic effects are taking into consideration because the most populated free trade zone in the world is in the same region as where the conflict is taking place. Keywords: Globalization, Free Trade, Asia, History, Geography. The Dispute To understand a geographical dispute, a cultural approach must be considered. Asian cultural practices are very conservative. Specially in China, people appre ciate the blessing of inherited land, and are very grateful to their ancestors. In China ancestor worship is a very common practice of Taoism, is based on the belief that previous generations of family continue to exist, and that these spirits can influence on the fortune of the living. (Nations Online) From this we can understand why China is so fed up with using the land they believe they have inherited. Geographically there are a lot of islands to the south of China, the number is difficult to calculate and only a few are inhabitable. These islands called the Spratly Islands were originally used just as a fishing territory, but later big reserves of oil and natural gas were found. The governments of the surrounding areas were quickly to act, and began claiming the territory as their own. The South China Sea dispute is a conflict in which 6 Asian countrie s are fighting for this territory . The countries that are currently on the conflict are China, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Brunei and Vietnam. The main reason behind the conflict is the claim of the territory and the establishment of an Exclusive Economic Zone , with the purpose of establishing boundaries in international waters . The conflict is mainly between China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations or ASEAN . The claims by the disputing sides involved in the South China Sea dispute are based on historical facts of when the islands were discovered and the modern United Nations Convention of the Laws of the Sea or UNCLOS. All the countries are using both the UNCLOS and historical events to claim the terri tory before the United Nations. (BBC) China's claims are based mainly on hist orical evidence. According to the Chinese. Spratley and Paracel islands were discovered by them. Th e document that states the claim is calculated to be 1700 years old. But modern history has deprived the Chinese from all historical claims. China blames the conflict between superpowers and imperialism for the loss of the occupation of the islands, saying that events such as the cold war avert international conflicts from being resolved and add tension to the differences that Asian countries have. Vietnam has a similar situation to China, having habituated the land for many generations, the only proof they have of ever owning it is the continuous control and inheritance through many generations. Vietnam stablish a sovereignty with China over the dispute during its war with France and the United States, but in the early 70s relations deteriorated leading to the conflict. Malaysia's claims on the southern Spratley islands are merely geographically territorials, stating that the islands belong to their continental shelf. Philippines also states that the land is inside their contin ental shelf, but tries to base its argument on history as well, but in contrasts with China's and Vietnam's historical facts, the Philippines' claims are relatively modern. Indonesia also states that some islands are in their continental shelf. Brunei has claimed that according to the UNCLOS some islands belong to them, but has not officially presented any case nor evidence of why. (CFR) One important event in the timeline of the conflict was when China proposed the Set Aside Dispute and Cooperative Exploration Act, proposed by Li Peng, then Prime Minister of China in the 1990. The proposal did not sympathize with