Spratly Islands dispute

Part of a series on the
Spratly Islands
Spratly Islands military occupations map
Related articles
Spratly Islands dispute Territorial disputes in the South China Sea Philippines and the Spratly Islands Dangerous Ground (South China Sea) Great Wall of Sand History of the Spratly Islands List of maritime features in the Spratly Islands List of airports in the Spratly Islands Vietnamese DK1 rigs Royal Malaysian Navy Offshore Bases Republic of Morac-Songhrati-Meads Free Territory of Freedomland
Confrontations
Southwest Cay incident (1975) East Sea Campaign (1975) Johnson South Reef skirmish (1988)
Military occupations
Occupied by Brunei Louisa Reef-Semarang Barat Kecil Reef Occupied by China (PRC) Cuarteron Reef, Huayang Reef Fiery Cross Reef, Yongshu Reef Gaven Reefs, Nanxun Reef and Xinan Reef Hughes Reef, Dongmen Reef Johnson South Reef, Chigua Reef Mischief Reef, Meiji Reef Subi Reef, Zhubi Reef Occupied by Malaysia Ardasier Reef, Ubi Reef Dallas Reef, Laya Reef Erica Reef, Siput Reef Investigator Shoal, Peninjau Shoal Mariveles Reef, Mantanani Reef Swallow Reef, Layang-Layang Island Occupied by the Philippines Commodore Reef, Rizal Reef Flat Island, Patag Island Irving Reef, Balagtas Reef Lankiam Cay, Panata Island Loaita Cay, Melchora Aquino Island Loaita Island, Kota Island Nanshan Island, Lawak Island Northeast Cay, Parola Island Second Thomas Shoal, Ayungin Shoal Thitu Island, Pagasa Island West York Island, Likas Island Occupied by Taiwan (ROC) Centre Cay, Zhongzhou Reef Itu Aba Island, Taiping Island Occupied by Vietnam Amboyna Cay, An Bang Island Bombay Castle, Ba Ke Collins Reef, Co Lin Reef Cornwallis South Reef, Nui Le Reef Ladd Reef, Lat Reef Namyit Island, Nam Yet Island Sand Cay, Son Ca Island Sin Cowe Island, Sinh Ton Island Southwest Cay, Song Tu Tay Island Spratly Island, Truong Sa Island Unoccupied Half Moon Shoal Luconia Shoals Northeast Investigator Shoal Royal Captain Shoal Sabina Shoal Western Reef Whitsun Reef
v t e

The Spratly Islands dispute is an ongoing territorial dispute among Brunei, China, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Vietnam concerning "ownership" of the Spratly Islands, a group of islands and associated "maritime features" (reefs, banks, and cays etc.) located in the South China Sea. The dispute is characterized by diplomatic stalemate and the employment of military pressure techniques (such as military occupation of disputed territory) in the advancement of national territorial claims. All except Brunei occupy some of the maritime features.

Most of the "maritime features" in this area have at least six names: The "international name", usually in English; the "Chinese name", sometimes different for PRC and ROC (and also in different character-sets); the Philippine, Vietnamese and Malaysian names, and also, there are alternate names (e.g. Spratly Island is also known as Storm Island), and sometimes names with European origins (French, Portuguese, Spanish, British, etc.).^[1]

Although not large, reserves of oil and natural gas have been found in the area. It is a commercial fishing ground and close to global shipping routes. Its strategic position allows countries to monitor maritime activities in the area and project military power.^[2] UNCLOS does not decide on the sovereignty of disputed territories, as that requires separate legal and diplomatic efforts beyond the scope of UNCLOS.^[3] Additionally, China (PRC), Taiwan (ROC), and Vietnam are the only ones to have made claims based on historical sovereignty of the islands.^[4]