From the peaks of the Himalayan mountains to the shoals of the South China Sea, China lays claim to a vast territory - and a new national map produced by Beijing is the latest expansive conception of its borders to outrage its neighbors.
The Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam, Taiwan, and India, all of which have territorial disputes with China, have objected to the 2023 version of the country’s standard map, released on the 28th of August by the Chinese Ministry of Natural Resources.
The map includes a U-shaped line that reaffirms Beijing’s claims to sovereignty over almost all of the South China Sea including the West Philippine Sea, a resource-rich and strategically important region through which trillions of dollars in trade flows each year. The line extends into the exclusive economic zones of a number of countries.
It also includes the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh, and the Aksai Chin, in the Himalayan border, which China controls but India also claims, and the Russian territory of Bolshoy Ussuriysky Island.
At least six neighboring countries have objected to China's new standard national map, which features a 10-dash line, instead of the previous nine dashes, used to stake claims on the South China Sea, with an additional dash to the east of Taiwan.
Waves of anger spread across the South China Sea and India this week, following China’s publication of a new official map renewing its illegal claims to most of the sea and adding new claims along the east of Taiwan and the Indian border. This could also indicate that China also sees Japanese islands in the Ryukyus as its territory.
The new map repeats the 9 Dash Line claims made by China and rejected by the United Nations Law of the Sea tribunal, while also claiming new territory around Taiwan and to the North of India. This comes days after President Xi Jinping declared at the latest BRIC summit that hegemonism is not in China’s DNA.
China has put one new dash in the eastern section of the democratic island of Taiwan. Beijing sees Taiwan as a renegade province subject to reunification. Also, inside this ten-dash line are the entire Spratly Islands, which include the Kalaya-an Island Group.
More than 400 Filipino civilians, including 70 children, live in the Philippines' westernmost Island. The Island serves as the seat of the local government of the municipality of Kalaya-an in Palawan province. The Philippines already challenged the then nine-dash line drawn by China before the Permanent Court of Arbitration. The Court had invalidated Beijing’s sweeping claim.
On August 28, a day later, the Philippines Department of Foreign Affairs issued a statement that it rejects the 2023 version of China’s Standard Map. Because of its inclusion of the nine-dashed line, now a ten-dashed line that supposedly shows China’s boundaries in the South China Sea.
This is the latest attempt to legitimize China’s purported sovereignty and jurisdiction over Philippine features and maritime zones, which has no basis under international law, particularly the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. In 2016, the Hague Tribunal sided with the Philippines in territorial disputes over the South China Sea, but China refused to recognize the ruling.
The new map also sparked sharp reactions from India, Nepal, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Taiwan. The new document was released one week before the G-20 summit in India, where Xi was to attend, but news reports now indicate he will not.
India lodged a strong protest through diplomatic channels with the Chinese side on the so-called 2023 standard map of China that lays claim to India’s territory. A spokesman for India’s External Affairs Ministry, said Wednesday in a statement. They reject these claims as China has no legal basis.
Malaysia's Foreign Ministry also rejected China's unilateral maritime claims" and said that the new map encroached upon Malaysia's claims in its states of Sabah and Sarawak.
Malaysia does not recognize China's claims in the South China Sea, as outlined in the China Standard Map 2023 Edition which covers Malaysia's maritime area, the ministry stated. Accordingly, the map is in no way binding on Malaysia.
Meanwhile, Taiwan affirmed that it isn't a part of China and said that Beijing has never ruled the island. No matter how the Chinese government distorts its claims to Taiwan's sovereignty, it cannot change the objective fact of Taiwan’s existence as an Independent Country.
Vietnam's Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Pham Thu Hang, said in a statement that China's new map violated Vietnam's sovereignty over the Paracel and Spratly Islands in the South China Sea. China's sovereignty and maritime claims based on this dotted line, as showcased in the map, are null and void. Such claims go against international law, particularly the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
Join this channel to get access to perks:
/ @aseananalytics