An arm of the western Pacific Ocean that borders the Southeast Asian mainland.
Bordered by Brunei, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam.
It is connected by the Taiwan Strait with the East China Sea and by the Luzon Strait with the Philippine Sea (both marginal seas of the Pacific Ocean).
Comprise three archipelagoes, namely, the Spratly Islands, Paracel Islands, Pratas Islands and Macclesfield’s Bank and Scarborough Shoal.
Dispute:
China’s Nine Dash Line: Defines area claimed by China - by far the largest portion of the Sea.
Scarborough Shoal: Claimed both by the Philippines and China (known as Huangyan Island in China).
Spratlys: Occupied by claimants, which consist of Taiwan, Vietnam, the Philippines, China and Malaysia.
Paracel Islands: Subject of overlapping claims by China, Vietnam and Taiwan.
Island Chain Strategy: A geographical security concept crafted by the United States in the 1940s to deter China and the Soviet Union’s maritime ambitions.
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