South China Sea:

Resources and Economics

Sophal Ear, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Naval Postgraduate School
PACFLT RSEP
22 July 2012
Disclaimer: Material contained herein is made available for the purpose of peer review and discussion and
does not necessarily reflect the views of the Department of the Navy or the Department of Defense.
Raise your hand if you know why
everyone wants a piece of the
(South China) Sea.
Shout out some reasons for why
everyone wants a piece of the SCS.
Exclusive Economic Zone
An exclusive economic zone (EEZ) is a seazone
prescribed by the United Nations Convention on the
Law of the Sea over which a state has special rights
over the exploration and use of marine resources,
including energy production from water and wind.
It stretches from the seaward edge of the state's
territorial sea out to 200 nautical miles from its
coast. In colloquial usage, the term may include the
territorial sea and even the continental shelf
beyond the 200-mile limit. The US is not a signatory
to UNCLOS, while China signed on June 7, 1996.
Since we can't
solve the South
China Sea issue, we
can leave it to the
next generation
which will be
smarter."
Chinas Exclusive Economic Zone and
Continental Shelf Act (1998)
This Act created an exclusive economic zone (EEZ) with 200
nautical mile limits from its coastal baseline, and claimed the
right, inter alia, to broadly undefined powers to enforce laws
in the EEZ, "including security laws and regulations." Based on
the Act, the PRC does not recognize the airspace above its EEZ
as "international airspace" and has interfered with and
protested US reconnaissance flights over its EEZ. China takes
the position that all maritime data collection activities,
including military intelligence and hydrographic collection
activities, fall within the United Nations Convention on the
Law of the Sea [UNCLOS] provisions for marine scientific
research and therefore require coastal-state consent before
they could be carried out in the two-hundred-nautical-mile
EEZ.
US Position
The US has protested this sovereignty claim as a violation
of international law numerous times since this law was
passed. The US Government has long conducted a
vigorous freedom of navigation program through which it
has asserted its navigational rights in the face of what it
has regarded as excessive claims by coastal states of
jurisdiction over ocean space or international passages.
When remonstrations and protestations are unavailing,
elements of US military forces may sail into or fly over
disputed regions for the purpose of demonstrating their
right and determination to continue to do so.
Whats At Stake
The region is estimated to have as much as 30
billion metric tons of oil and 16 trillion cubic
meters of gas, which would account for about
one-third of Chinas oil and gas resources,
according to Chinas official Xinhua News
Agency. China had 2 billion tons of proven oil
reserves and 99 trillion cubic feet of natural gas
reserves in 2010, according to BP Plc estimates.
213 Billion Barrels
Proven and undiscovered oil reserve estimates
in the South China Sea range as high as 213
billion barrels, the US Energy Information
Administration said in a 2008 report. That would
surpass every countrys proven oil reserves
except Saudi Arabia and Venezuela, according to
the BP Statistical Review.
Spratlys
The Spratlys, a group of 250 uninhabitable islets
spread over 427,350 sq km (165,000 sq miles),
are claimed entirely by China, Taiwan and
Vietnam and in part by Malaysia, Brunei and the
Philippines.
12 July 2012
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations
failed to reach consensus on handling disputes
in the South China Sea, reflecting a rift between
China and the U.S. over rules to keep peace in
the trade lane. Cambodia, which holds the
groups rotating chairmanship, rejected a
compromise on the wording of a joint
communique among the other nine members in
Phnom Penh. Bloomberg
The blocs inability to agree
on a communique is
unprecedented,
Indonesian Foreign
Minister Marty Natalegawa
said. This is strange
territory for me. Its very,
very disappointing that at
this 11
th
hour Asean is not
able to rally around a
certain common language
on the South China Sea.
Weve gone through so
many problems in the past,
but weve never failed to
speak as one.
Scarborough Shoal
At least 28 Chinese vessels and boats remained in
and around the lagoon of Scarborough Shoal as of
26 June 2012, contrary to earlier reports that China
had pulled out all its vessels. Aerial surveillance
conducted by Philippine Navy aircraft spotted six
Chinese fishing vessels and 17 dinghies inside the
lagoon. - Armed Forces chief Gen. Jessie Dellosa
said 3 July 2012 it would be up to the national
government whether to redeploy Philippine vessels
to the hotly-contested Panatag (Scarborough)
Shoal. GlobalSecurity.org
Defense Minister Liang Guanglie: China
never intends to threaten any nation.