Monday, December 8, 2014

US Statement Department Study of China: Maritime Claims in the South China Sea

http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/234936.pdf

United States Department of State
Bureau of Oceans and International
Environmental and Scientific Affairs
Limits in the Seas

No. 143
China:
Maritime Claims in the South China Sea


LIMITS IN THE SEAS
No. 143
CHINA
MARITIME CLAIMS IN THE
SOUTH CHINA SEA
December 5, 2014
Office of Ocean and Polar Affairs
Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs
U.S. Department of State

This study is one of a series issued by the Office of Ocean and Polar Affairs, Bureau of Oceans
and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs in the Department of State. The purpose
of the series is to examine a coastal State’s maritime claims and/or boundaries and assess their
consistency with international law. This study represents the views of the United States
Government only on the specific matters discussed therein and does not necessarily reflect an
acceptance of the limits claimed.
This study, and earlier studies in this series, may be downloaded from
http://www.state.gov/e/oes/ocns/opa/c16065.htm. Comments and questions should be emailed to
LimitsInTheSeas@state.gov. Principal analysts for this study are Kevin Baumert and Brian
Melchior.

Introduction
This study analyzes the maritime claims of the People’s Republic of China in the South China
Sea, specifically its “dashed-line” claim encircling islands and waters of the South China Sea.1

In May 2009, the Chinese Government communicated two Notes Verbales to the UN Secretary
General requesting that they be circulated to all UN Member States.2
 The 2009 Notes, which
contained China’s objections to the submissions by Vietnam and Malaysia (jointly) and Vietnam
(individually) to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf, stated the following:
China has indisputable sovereignty over the islands in the South China Sea and the adjacent
waters, and enjoys sovereign rights and jurisdiction over the relevant waters as well as the seabed
and subsoil thereof (see attached map). The above position is consistently held by the Chinese
government, and is widely known by the international community.
The map referred to in China’s Notes, which is reproduced as Map 1 to this study, depicted nine
line segments (dashes) encircling waters, islands, and other features of the South China Sea.
Vietnam, Indonesia, and the Philippines subsequently objected to the contents of China’s 2009
Notes, including by asserting that China’s claims reflected in the dashed-line map are without
basis under the international law of the sea.3
 In 2011, China requested that another Note Verbale
be communicated to UN Member States, which reiterated the first sentence excerpted above, and
added that “China’s sovereignty and related rights and jurisdiction in the South China Sea are
supported by abundant historical and legal evidence.”4

China has not clarified through legislation, proclamation, or other official statements the legal
basis or nature of its claim associated with the dashed-line map. Accordingly, this Limits in the
Seas study examines several possible interpretations of the dashed-line claim and the extent to
which those interpretations are consistent with the international law of the sea.

 1 This claim is referred to by commentators by various names, including the “Nine-Dash Line,” “Dotted Line,”
“Cow’s Tongue,” and “U-Shaped Line.” 2 Permanent Mission of the People’s Republic of China, Notes Verbales CML/17/2009 and CML/18/2009, May 7,
2009, available from the UN Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea (DOALOS) at:
http://www.un.org/Depts/los/clcs_new/submissions_files/mysvnm33_09/chn_2009re_mys_vnm_e.pdf and
http://www.un.org/Depts/los/clcs_new/submissions_files/vnm37_09/chn_2009re_vnm.pdf. 3 Notes available from DOALOS at:
http://www.un.org/Depts/los/clcs_new/submissions_files/submission_mysvnm_33_2009.htm. 4 Permanent Mission of the People’s Republic of China, Note Verbale CML/8/2011, April 14, 2011, available from
DOALOS at: http://www.un.org/Depts/los/clcs_new/submissions_files/mysvnm33_09/chn_2011_re_phl_e.pdf.
This Note did not contain a dashed-line map.


















































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