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1 [1] (December 22, 2025)

handle is hein.crs/govetbx0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Congressional Research Service Informing th Ieg satrve debate o e 1914 China Primer: South China Sea Disputes Overview Multiple Asian governments assert sovereignty over rocks, reefs, and other geographic features in the heavily trafficked South China Sea (SCS), with the People's Republic of China (PRC or China) arguably making the most assertive claims. The United States makes no territorial claim in the SCS and takes no position on sovereignty over any of the geographic features in the SCS, but U.S. officials have long urged that disputes be settled without coercion and on the basis of international law. Separate from the sovereignty disputes, the governments of the United States, China, and other countries disagree over what rights international law grants foreign militaries to fly, sail, and operate in a country's territorial sea or exclusive economic zone (EEZ). Since the 113th Congress, some Members have examined China's efforts to use coercion and intimidation to increase its influence in the SCS and have passed legislation aimed at improving the ability of the United States and its partners to protect their interests. An estimated one-fifth to one-third of global ship-borne commerce transits the SCS each year, including energy supplies to U.S. allies and partners like Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan. According to estimates cited by the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the SCS contains proved or probable reserves of approximately 3.6 billion barrels of oil and 40.3 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. The SCS also contains significant fish stocks, coral, and other undersea resources. isputes over Soveregnty PRC officials assert indisputable sovereignty over these islands [of the SCS] and their adjacent waters without defining adjacent waters. The PRC government depicts its claims with a dashed line (see Figure 1) that encompasses approximately 62% of the SCS, according to the U.S. Department of State. The PRC has never explained definitively what the dashed line signifies. In the northern part of the SCS, the PRC, Taiwan, and Vietnam contest sovereignty of the Paracel Islands; the PRC has occupied them since 1974. The PRC and Taiwan also claim Pratas Island, which Taiwan controls. In the southern part of the sea, the PRC, Taiwan, and Vietnam each claim all of the approximately 200 Spratly Islands, while Brunei, Malaysia, and the Philippines, a U.S. treaty ally, claim some of them. Vietnam occupies the most land features in the island chain; Taiwan occupies the largest. In the eastern part of the sea, the PRC, Taiwan, and the Philippines claim Scarborough Shoal; the PRC has controlled it since 2012. PRC and Taiwanese claims overlap with the theoretical 200-nautical-mile (nm) EEZs that five Southeast Asian countries-Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Vietnam-could claim from Updated December 22, 2025 their mainland under the 1994 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). Figure I. The South China Sea China's cdashed line Island and shoal representations (enlarged for visibility). Source: CRS. Boundaries from U.S. Department of State. Isute over Freedom ofthe Seas A dispute over how to interpret UNCLOS underlies U.S.- China tensions over U.S. military operations in and over the SCS and other waters off China's coast. The United States and most other countries interpret UNCLOS as giving coastal states the right to regulate economic activities within their EEZs, but not the right to regulate navigation and overflight through the EEZ, including by military ships and aircraft. China, Vietnam, and some other countries hold the minority view that UNCLOS allows them to regulate both economic activity and foreign militaries' navigation and overflight in their EEZs. The U.S. Navy routinely operates in the SCS and the Taiwan Strait, including transits of the Taiwan Strait and Freedom of Navigation Operations (FONOPs) near Spratly and Paracel Islands to challenge maritime claims that the United States considers to be excessive. U.S. Air Force and Navy aircraft fly surveillance and reconnaissance missions in international airspace above the waters of the SCS, including airspace that is close to (but outside of) China's airspace. China regularly conducts military activities in the SCS and objects to U.S. military activities there. PRC officials often say that U.S. military operations in the SCS undermine regional stability. Other countries-including Japan, Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and India- also have operated naval vessels and aircraft in the SCS to promote a free and open Indo-Pacific.