US

continues
to send navy
ships in South
China Sea
By STUDENT A

The South China Sea, a

hot topic in the UN
currently has been under a
lot of pressure from
America, Vietnam, Malaysia,
the Philippines, and China.
The Problem in the South
China Sea is that China is
claiming a lot of the waters
without any real claim.

Map of the South China Sea

The South China Sea

starts at Singapore and
ends at the Strait of Taiwan.
The area is around 3.5
million square kilometres.
The South China Sea is

Map showing trading routes through the South China Sea

filled with many

uninhabited archipelagos
such as the Spartly islands,
Paracel Island, Scarborough
Shoal.
Countries such as
Vietnam, Taiwan, and
China are claiming large
portions of the South China
Sea based of possibly
incorrect maps. The South
China Sea and its islands
are wanted for many
reasons such as: there may
be a natural reserve of
minerals and resources.
Another big reason is
because the South China
Sea is a major shipping
route for the US and most
countries in the world. It is
also home to fishing

grounds, which feeds all of

the surrounding countries.
This means whoever owns
the South China has a lot of
economic trading power.
For example 10 million
barrels of crude oil is
shipped through the
straight of Malacca every
day.
China has recently made
very bold claims on how
much of the South China
Sea they own, and its all
based of an unknown map
which supposedly shows
Paracel and Spartly Islands
being regarded as a part of
the Chinese Nation.

Map of what each country claims in

the South China Sea

Here we see a map that

shows what each different
country is claiming. Yellow
indicates amount of
land/sea claimed. China
and Taiwan have released
the same map of what each
of them claims. From this
already it is seen that there
is a lot of illegitimacy in
these maps. China, having
the biggest army in the
region, is actually the one
militarizing the South China
Sea and taking advantage
of the weaker countries.
America is sending naval
ships to protect its trading
route and to fight for the
freedom of navigation for
itself and other countries.
China is using its army and
naval force to essential
take the Islands. China has
already started building
structures on some of the
islands, and building
artificial islands for more
space.
China is using its force
to essential take control of
most of Asia, by having
control over the trading
routes. Adam Harry Harris
Jr, an admiral in the Unites
States Navy, was
interviewed at a meeting in
Tokyo. He was asked what

Chinas strategic goal of

building up a military in the
South China Sea was; to
which he responded, I
believe China seeks
hegemony in East Asia, he
also said that You have to
believe the world is flat to
think that China is not
militarizing the South China
Sea. A Chinese article has
come up saying that the US
should back out of the
South China Sea because
the increase in navy ships
means that there is a
greater chance of conflict
and that this is all causing
tension between the 2
countries. This is true, but
instead of just asking the
US to remove in navy ships
that are trying to protect
the freedom of navigation
in the South China Sea both
countries should lessen
their naval force, and
settle the argument over
the South China Sea
democratically.
Furthermore the US and
China should end the
possibility of a conflict so
that it can start building a
mutual trust.
The US-China Strategic
and Economic Dialogue is
an event held in Beijing,
President Xi Jinping and US
Secretary of State John
Kerry, were both at this
event to talk about the
future of China-US relations.
During the event president
Xi Jinping said, China and
the US have extensive
mutual interests in the
Asia-Pacific region, he
also said the US and China
should work to become

allies and to build a

mutual circle of friends,
here is the direct quote for
Mr Jinping "We should hold
regular dialogues,
cooperate, cope with
various challenges, work
hard to cultivate a mutual not exclusive - circle of
friends, and become the
builders and protectors of
regional prosperity and
stability."

President Xi Jingpin

Obama said that it would

be difficult for them to
agree on the same matters
because of there different
history but also added "we
must continue to build a
bilateral relationship based
on shared interest,
responsibility and
challenges, and jointly
undertake the duty of
strengthening the
international order,"
In the end we know
that American is not
militarizing the South China
Sea but has interests in
keeping peace, stability,
and freedom of navigation
for the surrounding
countries and itself.

China accuses
America of
militarizing the
South China
Sea
By STUDENT A
The South China Sea has
been under a lot of pressure
recently from Vietnam,
America, the Philippines,
Malaysia, and China. Vietnam,
the Philippines, Malaysia,
and China are all taking
claims to the islands in the
South China Sea.
The South China Sea is a
marginal sea that is located
in the Pacific Ocean.

Map showing South China

Sea and its Islands
The South China Sea is a
stretch of water from

Singapore to the Strait of

Taiwan. It encompasses
around 3.5 million square
kilometres of sea. The South
China Sea contains many
uninhabited archipelagos.
The main islands countries
are trying to claim are the
Spratly Islands, Paracal
Islands, Pratas Islands,
Macclesfield Bank, and
Scarborough Shoal. The
reason so many countries are
trying to claim areas of the
South China Sea is because it
is thought that there may be
some reserves of natural
resources around the islands.
The South China Sea is
also a major shipping route
and is home to fishing
grounds, which supplies food
for regions around it. It
would mean the country that
has claim over the South
China Sea would have a lot of
economical trading power.
For example, around 10
million barrels of crude oil
are shipped through the
Strait of Malacca per day.
China has recently been
accused of militarizing the
South China Sea to strength
its grip on the Islands that it
claims, but if you look
carefully America has also
strengthened their forces in

the South China Sea. Mrs Fu

Ying said, America made an
important decision, which is
deploying over 60% of its
navy to the Asia-Pacific
region [The U.S.] is
strengthening military
deployments with its
alliances in the Asia-Pacific
region. If were talking about
militarization, whats this?
Isnt it militarization?

Map showing what each

country claims in the
South China Sea
The Chinese have the
rightful claim over most of
the South China Sea. Beijing
released a map of when the
Paracel and Spartly Island
were regarded as part of the
Chinese nation. China and
the Philippines also claim
Scarborough Shoal. Vietnam
and Taiwan both say they

have claims for the Parcel

and Spartly islands. Malaysia
and Brunei are also claiming
territory in the Spartly
Islands.
The US and Philippines are
saying that China is
militarizing the South China
Sea and that it is opposing
the restrictions on the
freedom of navigation.
American naval ships invading the South China Sea

Mrs Fu Ying, the Chinese

ambassador to the UK
Mrs Fu Ying said, America
once promised to be neutral
on the [contested] Nansha
islands [which are called the
Spratlys in English]. Now the
actions and comments from
America stimulate [tension].
We have questions about
Americas purposes.

The 1982 United Nations
Convention on the Law of the
Sea (UNCLOS) classifies the
sea into various
jurisdictional zones with
different rights and duties.
They serve as a way to
decide if a relevant party has
broken the law. The location

of an incident at sea plays a

big role in decided whether
or not an action was
unlawful.
The US has released a
statement that accuses China
of conducting "unsafe"
interception of a US
reconnaissance plane in
"international airspace" over
the South China Sea,
"international airspace" is
not recognized anywhere in
the UNCLOS. In all countries
"international air-space"
refers to the airspace over
the maritime areas beyond
territorial waters. This is
what the US does, sets its
own law above the agreed
laws.
This is the reason why
America is invading the
South China Sea with their
navy ships and causing
tension. America is building
up their navy in the South
China Sea to protect their
trading vessels and aircrafts,
but because of the
militarization from the
Americans China is being
forced to show military

power to keep control over

the islands in the South
China Sea. The increase in
navy boats in the South
China Sea means that as
tension increases between
the US and China a collision
could happen. China does not
want this to happen to keep
trading options open and to
maintain a stable
relationship with the US.