Context: China warned off US warship sailing near contested islands in the South China Sea.

China’s Claim

• China lays claim to nearly all of the South China Sea, including the Paracel Islands.
• However, Taiwan, Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam also claim parts of the region, believed to hold valuable oil and gas deposits.
• It has alleged that the USA warship broke into China’s Xisha (Paracel) island’s territorial waters without the permission of the Chinese government and accused USA for “seriously violating China’s sovereignty” and “harming regional peace.”

USA’s Stand

• The USA has argued that such exercises are in line with international law and help defend the right of passage through the region amid competing claims by China and other governments.
• It is in sync with the USA's continuous efforts to counter China’s assertion in SCS. Recently the USA Navy sent an aircraft carrier group into the South China Sea.

About South China Sea

• The South China Sea is a marginal sea in the Western Pacific Ocean.
• It is bounded in the north by the shores of South China, in the west by the Indo-Chinese Peninsula, in the east by the islands of Taiwan and northwestern Philippines (mainly Luzon, Mindoro and Palawan), and in the south by Borneo, eastern Sumatra and the Bangka Belitung Islands.
• It contains over 250 small islands, atolls, cays, shoals, reefs, and sandbars.

Significance of South China Sea

• It is a region of tremendous economic and geostrategic importance.
• One-third of the world's maritime shipping passes through it, carrying over US$3 trillion in trade each year.
• Huge oil and natural gas reserves are believed to lie beneath its seabed.
• It also contains lucrative fisheries, which are crucial for the food security of millions in Southeast Asia.

Territorial Claims

• Several countries have made competing territorial claims over the South China Sea.
• Both the People's Republic of China (PRC) and the Republic of China (Taiwan) claim almost the entire body as their own, demarcating their claims within what is known as the nine-dotted line or nine-dash line.
• This line extends for 2,000 kilometers from the Chinese mainland, encompassing over half of the sea.

The claim had no basis in the international law.

• Indonesia, Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia, Philippines, Cambodia, Thailand also lay claim to various island groups in the region.

For example

• Vietnam, China, and Taiwan lay claim over waters west of the Spratly Islands.
• Paracel Islands are disputed between Vietnam, China & Taiwan.
• ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) has been keen to ensure that the territorial disputes within the South China Sea do not escalate into an armed conflict.