Committee: Disarmament and International Security (DISEC) Agenda: Peaceful yet effective solutions to the territorial disputes in the South China Sea Written by: 정윤철, 박진원 Committee Introduction The Disarmament and International Security generally serves with disarmament, especially about universal challenges and threats to peace that affect international community and conceives solutions to the challenge in the international security regime. This committee is based on peace and international regulation of armaments in which any delegate is denied to a war against other countries. Numerous topics for DISEC have been discussed by a variety of MUN. The first resolution by DISEC was drawn in 1946, which addressed international concerns for the Establishment of a Commission to Deal with the Problems Raised by the Discovery of Atomic Energy. Background Information The South China Sea disputes have their key conflictual background on both island and maritime in recent years where several soverign states and countries are having acute conflicts. Relevent countries concerning the issue are Brunei, the Republic of China, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, People s republic of China, and Philippines which are faced with the deliberation in order to obtain dominium of the region. In recent years, this deliberation has been aggravated by China, which showed off its power to other countries offensively. It is the job of this committee to find solutions to the territorial disputes peacefully and effectively. Nine-dash line was claimed by China that extend their territory hundreds of miles to the south and east of its island province of Hainan. Nine-dash line includes Paracel islands, Spartly islands, and diverse boundaries in the Gulf of the Tonkin. However, it was repealed by a recommendation of PCA (Permanent Court of Arbitration) that Beijing couldn't proclaim the line with historic claims because the
line, first inscribed on a Chinese map in 1947, had no legal basis for maritime claims. China seems to make the circumstance worse, since they built artificial island in the South China Sea. The new facilities would allow China to establish military dominance over the highly contested region and a controversial Air Defense Identification zone in the area. China declared its East China Sea ADIZ (Air Defense Identification Zone) in 2013, which antagonized Japan and the United States. This image is shot by AMTI (Asian Maritime Transparency Initiative) on November, 2016 that they installed CIWS (close-in weapons systems) in the Spratly Islands to protect against cruise missile attacks. China created artificial islands around the Spratly Islands by putting cement on island, rocks, and coral reefs. China nearly completed defense infrastructure on three of China s principal artificial: Fiery Cross, Mischief and Subi reefs. Each of the reefs has new aircraft hangers, which is(are) capable of holding about 24 military aircraft that can hold bombers. The Spratly islands is the place where the Johnson South Reef Skirmish occurred in 1988. The Johnson South Reef Skirmish was a naval battle that China invaded Vietnamese territory, Johnson South Reef. Since the war occurred, China has controlled the island and made artificial islands around the island to protect it. The speed and scale of China s island-building have alarmed other countries with interests in the region. They constructed port facilities, military buildings and an airstrip on the islands. The installations bolster China s foothold in the Spratly Islands, a disputed scattering of reefs and islands in the South China Sea more than 500 miles from the Chinese mainland. The United States reported spotting Chinese mobile artillery vehicles in the region, and the islands could allow China to exercise more control over fishing in the region. UNCTAD (United Nations Conference on Trade and Development) estimated that almost half of the world s total annual seaborne trade tonnage pass through the Strait of Malacca and the nearby Straits of Sunda and Lombok. Furthermore, Department of Defense reported that 5.3 trillion U.S dollar worth of goods moves through the sea every year, which is about 30 percent of global maritime trade. That includes huge amount of oil and 1.2 trillion U.S. dollar worth of annual trade with the United States. This is the reason why the United States stresses freedom of movement in international waters. Once China closes the trade routes, it would cause enormous economic disadvantages to other countries. Due to growth of economy and population, demand for food increased as well. The fishing
dispute contributes to the complex conflict over natural resources already ongoing in the South China Sea. Fish are considered a strategic commodity and perceived to be part of the expansionist s views of China. Since China declared nine-dash line, it became hard for other countries to use this region for fishery. Hereupon, there are many conflicts between China and other countries in order to get territorial rights. Status Quo Over the decade, the conflict has been deteriorated by China and led to a main issue between the countries adjacent to the area. Great demands for economic resources made the countries have arguments on the conflict. Enormous amount of gas and oil stored under the island can bring a huge economic growth to every country, even China. Since China is one of the influential countries in the world, however, it is hard for the countries to make claims about the conflict. Furthermore, they are unable to fight with China due to their feeble military power. For this reason, the U.S. is in charge of this conflict for their allies, Vietnam and Philippines. The district consists of islands, reefs, banks, and other features in which contains potential exploitation of crude oil and natural gas. The South China Sea offers the potential for significant natural gas discoveries, creating an incentive to secure larger parts of the area for domestic production. It is difficult to determine the amount of oil and natural gas in the South China Sea because of underexploration and territorial disputes. EIA (The U.S. Energy Information Administration) estimates approximately 11 billion barrels of oil reserves and 190 trillion cubic feet of natural gas revers in the
South China Sea. Moreover, the USGS (U.S. Geological Survey) analyzed that undiscovered area may contain between 5 and 22 billion barrels of oil and between 70 and 290 trillion cubic feet of gas that are preserved under the seabed. Resources suggested by EIA are likely located in the contest Reed Bank at the northeast end of the Spratly islands, which is claimed by China, Taiwan, and Vietnam. The Philippines explored the area in 1970 and discovered natural gas in 1976. Subsequently, The U.S. based Sterling Energy won the concession in 2002, and U.K. based Forum Energy acquired the concession in 2005 and became its operator. However, Chinese objections halted further development, and the concession remains undeveloped. It is hard for the countries that have feeble military system and low economy to fight against China which is of the influential and powerful countries in the world. Consequently, they usually assert their claims based on international law. For example, Philippine claimed that their fishery rights were violated by China. So, they asked to UNCLOS (United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea) to determine if Scarborough Shoal is considered as an island or a rock. Scarborough Shoal is place which is located about 130 miles away from Philippine. So, if the area is considered as an island, they no longer could assert their fisher rights. The problem was solved peacefully and ended up with the area is considered as an island. Based on the judgement that the PCA gave the decision, Philippine asserted the rights for oil drilling reserved under the South China Sea. It seems that all countries want to solve the problem peacefully, but Chia is willing to declare a war if Manila tried to enforce an arbitration ruling and drill for oil in a disputed part of the South China Sea. This shows how oil drilling is very serious and important issue to both all countries. However, Vietnam began drilling for oil in an area on 2017 where China also claimed. Their action would bring serious problem to Vietnam, but the politicians in Vietnam ignored the Chinese s requirements and asserted for their dominium. It was the day only a few days passed since China and Vietnam had joint exercise around the South China Sea. So, it is unpredictable how China would make their claims on this issue.
Past Action by the UN and NGOs According to the UNCLOS Art. 288, clause 1, the courts that are provided by UNCLOS have rights to judge the conflict about the description of UNCLOS and its apply. But the court could not make a statement for the conflict because conflict had discussed only historical rights to assert the area. However, Philippine proved that UNCLOS can be one of the ways to solve the conflict by defining that the area surrounded by the nine-dashed line can be considered with the laws that is described in the UNCLOS. For this reason, PCA (Permanent Court of Arbitration) judged that China can no longer assert the nine-dashed line. PCA (Permanent Court of Arbitration) is an intergovernmental organization located at The Hague in the Netherlands. PCA is assigned by UNCLOS to judge the conflict based on the law. The Philippines claimed about the issue that since China invaded Spartly island, China controlled the area until PCA judged the issue. With various facts that can be solved by UNCLOS, PCA determined that China cannot assert nine-dashed line based on their historical information. EIA (The U.S. Energy Information Administration) estimated that approximately 11 billion barrels of oil reserves and 190 trillion cubic feet of natural gas revers in the South China Sea. But, it is hard for them to measure the exact amount of oil and gas reserved because of under-exploration and territorial disputes. So, they made the results based on the data discovered and proved. They said that the resources are likely located in the contest Reed Bank at the northeast end of the Spratly islands which is claimed by China, Taiwan, and Vietnam. Stances of Involved Nations China Beijing blames for the provocative actions caused by the countries as well as the presence of the United States in the region. They assert nine-dashed line in which approximately 90 percent of the region is China s territory. This issue caused conflicts between China and the countries adjacent to the South China Sea. Furthermore, they built artificial island in the disputed area and enhanced the aircraft military system to protect the region. This provocative actions led the dispute deteriorated. They violated Philippines rights to investigate the region and interrupted a torpedo. It has been announced by PCA that China does not have dominium, yet China still remain army system on the artificial island. Indonesia Indonesia has announced neutrality to countries which are involved in the dispute. In recent years, Indonesia started to take a close look at the dispute and blamed China due to their illegal fishery and creating nine-dashed line. There is conflicts between Indonesia and China that their nine-dashed line is involved in Indonesia s EEZ (Exclusive Economic zone) which is 200km away from Natuna islands. For this reason, Indonesia settled submarine base and intensified military base on the area. Malaysia Malaysia made their position clear that they would cooperate with China. They signed a significant defense deal on 2016 that they would have friendly relationship and enhance naval power.
Malaysia is no longer making claims on the issue and stated their position that they would not comprise on matters which can affect the territory s strength and national interest. Philippines Philippines is aggressively opposed to Chinese view on the dispute. It was Philippines which made a dispute about the nine-dashed line. On 2013, Philippines claimed in PCA that China is no longer can assert nine-dashed line legally. Because of overlapping territory line, PCA concluded their decision that historical authority is incompatible with EZZ. Even though Chinese fishermen used the islands for centuries, it has not been stated that China controlled the region. This dispute was ended up the dispute with the nine-dashed line should be abolished. Questions to Consider How should we deal with this dispute? It is important for all delegates to consider Every country s action on the conflict and what would be come out from their behavior. Which countries should control this region? Think about why Malaysia keeps their mouth quiet and wanted to make peaceful relationships with China. How should we think about the nine-dashed line? Is it okay to let them to assert for it? Is it okay to let China to build anything they want on the artificial island? How the countries would use this resource? Bibliography "South China Sea: Where Did China Get Its Nine-Dash Line?" Time. Time, n.d. Web. 20 May 2017. "U.S. Energy Information Administration - EIA - Independent Statistics and Analysis." South China Sea- International - Analysis - U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). N.p., n.d. Web. 20 May 2017. Slav, Irina. "China Offers Contested South China Sea Oil And Gas Blocks." OilPrice.com. N.p., 24 Apr. 2017. Web. 23 May 2017. Daiss, Tim. "Why The South China Sea Has More Oil Than You Think." Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 30 May 2016. Web. 23 May 2017. "What China Has Been Building in the South China Sea." The New York Times. The New York Times, 31 July 2015. Web. 23 May 2017. Hunt, Katie. "South China Sea: What's at stake." CNN. Cable News Network, 19 Feb. 2017. Web. 23 May 2017. "South China Sea: Where Did China Get Its Nine-Dash Line?" Time. Time, n.d. Web. 23 May 2017. Westcott, Ben. "South China Sea: Aircraft hangars installed on artificial islands." CNN. Cable News Network, 29 Mar. 2017. Web. 23 May 2017. "United Nations, main body, main organs, General Assembly." United Nations. United Nations, n.d. Web. 23 May 2017.