Ten-Dash Line, Nine-Dash Line and Overlapping Claims in the South China Sea

Ten-Dash Line

• Context (REUTERS): China has released a new “standard map”, which includes the ten-dash line.

• Ten-dash line is a U-shaped line (with ten dashes) in the South China Sea.
• With the ten-dash line, China is claiming over 90% of the South China Sea.
• It is an extended version of the nine-dash line.

Nine-dash line

• It is lined with nine dashes claiming a part of the South China Sea.
• China introduced it for the first time in 1947.
• It was a part of China’s map submitted to the UN in 2009.
• According to China, it is based on its historic maps.

Overlapping Claims in the South China Sea

Other countries in the South China Sea claim the area which is included in the nine-dash line.

1. Paracels and the Spratlys Islands:
   • Many countries claim these islands.
   • Vietnam claims both islands. It says it has actively ruled over both the Paracels and the Spratlys since the 17^th Century.
   • The Philippines’ claim over the Spratly Islands is based on its geographical proximity.
   • Malaysia claims a small number of islands in the Spratlys.
2. Scarborough Shoal Island:
   • Both the Philippines and China lay claim to the Scarborough Shoal.
   • It is more than 100 miles from the Philippines and 500 miles from China.
3. Exclusion Economic Zones (EEZ):
   • Malaysia and Brunei claim that territories included in the Nine-dash line fall within their EEZ.

South China Sea Arbitration

• The Philippines approached the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

UNCLOS was ratified by the Philippines in 1984 and China in 1996.

• In 2016, the PCA ruled in favour of the Philippines on most of its submissions.
• It said China does not have a legal basis to claim historic rights over a large part of the South China Sea. China did not participate in the proceeding and rejected its ruling.