What is the meaning of West Philippine Sea?

West Philippine Sea is the official designation by the Philippine government of eastern parts of the South China Sea which are included in the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone. The term is also sometimes incorrectly used to refer to the South China Sea as a whole.

What is the nine dashed line and why does it matter?

The nine-dash line has been used by China to show the maximum extent of its claim without indicating how the dashes would be joined if it was continuous and how that would affect the extent of the area claimed by China.

Who defined the 9 dash line?

geographer Yang Huairen
The nine-dash line was originally an 11-dash line, and Chinese geographer Yang Huairen helped etch it. Yang was born in 1917 and pursued his education in the UK before being employed by China’s Nationalist government.

Who made the 9 dash line?

Why is the South China Sea important?

South China Sea accounts for at least a third of the global maritime trade. While huge oil and natural gas reserves are said to lie beneath its seabed, it is also a fishing ground crucial for food security.

What is the Nine-Dash Line and why does it matter?

Here is a look at the origins of the nine-dash line, the history behind it and its meaning in geopolitical terms. China currently claims ‘indisputable sovereignty’ over the South China Sea, and some Chinese officials refer to it as the country’s ‘blue national soil’ — a term used to refer to the country’s offshore waters.

Should China give up its nine-dash line?

Asking China to give up its nine-dash line is an obvious violation of the will of the Chinese people. And expecting China to redefine the legal meaning of the line is equally unrealistic. It needs to be emphasized that China has never regarded the South China Sea in its totality as China’s territorial waters.

What does the nine-dash line mean in the South China Sea?

While China has never used the nine-dash line as an inviolable border to its sovereignty, this strategy together with the fact that China’s government has never officially explained the meaning of the line has led many researchers to try to derive the exact meanings of the Nine-Dash Map in the Chinese strategy in the South China Sea.

Is the Nine-Dash Line a “maximalist claim to sovereignty?

Marina Tsirbas from the Australian National University fears that the nine-dash line is a “maximalist claim to sovereignty and control over all of the features, land, water, and seabed within the area bounded by the nine-dash line. This is indeed what many states fear.”