Spratly Islands

_Spratly Islands Spratly Islands 1

Running head : Spratly Islands

Spratly Islands

Spratly Islands 2

Abstract

Spratly islands are a group of islands spread over the South China Sea It consists of coral reefs , shoals , atoll , and cays . Conflicts in the Spratly islands are on the basis of territorial overlapping . Disputes involve China , Vietnam , Taiwan , the Philippines , Malaysia and others China as the primary claimant of the entire Spratly islands which base its claim on archaeological and historal principles . They believed that Spratly islands were navigated since Han and Ming

Dynasty . Other claimants also based their claim as Chinas . Some , like the Philippines based it on geographical location . The main reason of their conflict is overlapping of territories and it entails legal exploitation of the natural resources , since Spratly islands are believed to be rich in fishes , oil and natural gas

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Introduction

Spratly islands is a group of islands located at the South China Sea about two-thirds of the way from southern Vietnam to southern Philippines . The includes more or less a hundred islets , coral reefs and sea mounts . The highest point in the islands is the unnamed location in Southwest Cay The land is not arable . Serious typhoons visit the islands because of numerous reefs and shoals . The climate is tropical . Natural resources consist of different types of fishes , guano , undetermined natural gas and oil (Spratly Islands , 2008

Spratly islands ' disputes involved territorial claims especially on the potential oil and natural gas reserves . Foreign firms who are willing to undertake oil development projects are also adding to the dispute

There are several countries involved in the conflict . They are all claimant of the islands . For most claims , China is the primary candidate . China started its claim way back in 1950s . They claimed the Paracel Island . In 1974 , China seized the Paracel Island from Vietnam And last March 14 , 1988 , China had started the military engagement with Vietnamese force over the removal of China 's flag on the newly claimed shoal . China had garnered six additional islands to their possessions The Philippines is also claiming sixty islands in the Spratly region Vietnam , Malaysia and Brunei are all claiming part of the islands and Taiwan is claiming all of it . The United States is also involved in the conflict involving military and commercial businesses . Japan , as well is involved because most of its principal oil shipping lanes is within the disputed territories . ASEAN members are also concerned with the withdrawal of the US forces in case the conflict is not resolved . ASEAN

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members are afraid that there will be no counterbalance to China . China has still military superiority , qualitatively and quantitatively (Spratly Islands Dispute , 1997 Geographical

Spratly (Nansha ) islands are a group of islands located in the South China Sea . It links the Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean . It is composed of low and small corals about five to six meters above the sea level . It spreads over 160 ,000 to 180 ,000 square...