National Security is Everyone's Business

April 16th, 2024 | 8:48 AM ET

Four Things to Know About the South China Sea Dispute

Posted: July 28th, 2015

Territorial claims in the South China Sea have been contentious for centuries, but recent land reclamation attempts by China have made it a global security issue.

1. Six countries – China, the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Vietnam and Taiwan – all make claims to islands in the South China Sea.  These countries base their claims on history as well as the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).  UNCLOS gives nations “Exclusive Economic Zone” authority extending out to 200 nautical miles off their coastline.  The country has sole exploitation rights over natural resources in that EEZ.

“The Cipher Brief has become the most popular outlet for former intelligence officers; no media outlet is even a close second to The Cipher Brief in terms of the number of articles published by formers.” —Sept. 2018, Studies in Intelligence, Vol. 62

Access all of The Cipher Brief’s national security-focused expert insight by becoming a Cipher Brief Subscriber+ Member.

Subscriber+

Categorized as:Asia InternationalTagged with:

Related Articles

Search

Close