A GEOPOLITICAL AND LEGAL APPROACH TO THE CHINESE PERSPECTIVE ON THE SOUTH CHINA SEA

Abstract

The People's Republic of China has certainly become one of the main actors in the global stage in recent years and that importance is undoubtedly going to increase in the next decades to come. Their economic, political, military and technological might is becoming more and more influential so that their perspective in global affairs needs to be taken into consideration. The Chinese are indeed really optimistic about their future and, once secured socioeconomic progress, they are turning their eyes into their last unsolved territorial disputes. The island of Taiwan will probably become the scenario where global leadership will be decided between China and the United States. However, another sensitive topic for Beijing is the South Sea ("Nanhai" as they call in Chinese), that is, the South China Sea conflict. This semi-enclosed sea is a key geopolitical waterway with immense strategic and military value as well as natural resources. China's Nine-dash line, which claims sovereignty over most of the archipelagos and surrounding waters in the area, has been really controversial for their regional neighbours and may be misunderstood by non Chinese standards. In this sense, such an important issue amidst growing rivalry between the PRC and the USA has been approached in this essay provinding a non western perspective, specifically a Chinese perspective. Therefore, this essay will explore the geopolitical concerns that explain China's interest on the area among the increasing rivalry with western powers and will also try to unveil the legal controversies over their claims, taking into account Chinese historical links to the SCS as well as the evolving legal concepts within the important United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.