The Spratly Islands

Between Vietnam and the Philippines in the South China Sea is an

island chain known as the Spratly Islands. This island chain consists of more
than 100 small islands or reefs that have historically been very disputed
territorially. These islands do not provide an ideal honeymoon destination,
however, because several ships have sunk due to the dangerous reefs that
surround most of the islands. Despite some danger, these islands are very
important for many of the countries involved in claiming them.
These islands are important because of their oil, fishing, military, and
commercial shipping implications. The large amount of oil that is estimated
to be held in the area has attracted many countries wanting to get a piece of
the profit. Notably, China and Vietnam have had confrontations on the
subject with each wanted the other to cancel their oil contracts in the area.
Because of the large population in the surrounding countries, commercial
fishing is very important. Because of this, more confrontations have taken
place to gain access to fish in the area. Brunei has an exclusive fishing zone
in part of the area, and several other countries including China are also
utilizing parts of the islands. Militarily, the Spratly Islands have drawn
interest from China who wants to impose a military force in that area. China
has even tried to expand some of the islands using manmade techniques in
order to begin building runways and ports. Finally, the commercial shipping
implications of the area are huge because the Spratly Islands are located in
one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world.

Due to the many advantages of the Spratly Islands, several countries

have claims to the islands. These countries include Brunei, Malaysia, China,
the Philippines, and Vietnam. Although some of these countries only claim a
few of the islands or parts of the islands, China claims all of them. They claim
them all partly because of the UNCLOS agreement which provided a legal
framework to claim land territory in maritime zones. Interestingly, the
Philippines also refers to UNCLOS to claim the islands because they fall
within the 200 mile exclusive economic zone as defined by the agreement.
Vietnam also claims the islands and disputes Chinese claims by claiming
their history was off.
The attractiveness due to the oil, fishing, military, and commercial
shipping opportunities coupled with their location and complicated history
provide the Spratly Islands with constant disputes that may never be settled.

Works Cited
Beckman, Robert. "The UN Convention on the Law of the Sea and the
Maritime Disputes in the South China Sea." American Society of
International Law. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 May 2016.
<http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5305/amerjintelaw.107.1.0142?
seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents>.
DeLuca, Derek. "Articles: Why the Spratly Islands Dispute Matters." Articles:
Why the Spratly Islands Dispute Matters. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 May 2016.
<http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2016/02/why_the_spratly_isl
ands_dispute_matters.html>.
"Why the Spratly Islands Are 'Dangerous Ground'" WSJ Video. N.p., n.d. Web.
24 May 2016. <http://www.wsj.com/video/why-the-spratly-islands-aredangerous-ground/0102DE2C-327F-4910-8A2B-4EF52850FF7A.html>.
"The World Factbook: Spratly Islands." Central Intelligence Agency. Central
Intelligence Agency, 16 May 2016. Web. 24 May 2016.
<https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-worldfactbook/geos/pg.html>.