The Boiler Of The South China Sea

The boiler of the South China Sea

An extensive sea that is a third of maritime traffic worldwide, two islet chains with a high geostrategic, economical and with great natural resources and six countries claiming their territories. This is the current situation of the South China Sea, one of the most active and intricate geopolitical scenarios in the world . The six countries involved in the dispute are: China, Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam, Brunei and Taiwan. The future of this conflict seems uncertain although everything indicates that it will intensify, and more taking into account that the US has also intervened in the area against the interests of a great world rival power such as China.

The South China Sea contains more than 400 islands, reefs and a large number of archipelagos among which the Spratly and Paracelsus islands stand out, uninhabited islands, whose locations are key in maritime transit and that is why the countries involved are disputed these are disputedIslands. In addition, the South China Sea has a rich marine background, natural gas and raw materials;The United States Energy Information Agency estimates that at the bottom of this sea there are about 11.000 million barrels of crude. Demographically, the sum of the population of countries with coasts in the China Sea is about two billion, which means approximately 27% of the world’s population.

However, it is not a new conflict, since the rise and fall of different empires and the conflicts that occurred in the region throughout history has caused the continuous struggle between nations about its sovereignty and control.

China claims the same as the former Chinese nationalist government in the forties, and that all neighboring countries reject. If so, China would have total control over the South China Sea, obtaining great economic, military and territorial benefits.  In 2016, the Permanent Court of Arbitration of Hague rejected China’s claim on the control of the area, rejecting the Chinese government for the sentence for not taking into account the historical elements. For several years, China has opted for the strategic militarization of the area, establishing military bases on the Spratly Islands, a practice that countries like Taiwan, Vietnam or the Philippines have also imitated. As if that were not enough, China has even built artificial islands to establish military bases with ports and airports, which has created a lot of controversy and disagreement between other countries.

The conflict in the South China Sea is one of the great geostrategic conflicts of today, and will increase, due to the demographic growth and the economic boom that is taking place in countries that delimit the area, increasingly needing energy resourcesthat this sea is located, so we are facing what will be one of the most important conflicts of the 21st century, with many countries involved and many things at play.