• Military Menu                       

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Industry
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• WMD
• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

China 'deposits' statement regarding disputed Scarborough shoal to UN

Beijing announced last month the baselines of its territorial sea around the shoal to strengthen its claim.

By Taejun Kang for RFA 2024.12.03 -- China "deposited" a statement regarding "baselines of the territorial sea" adjacent to the disputed Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea to the U.N., calling it "legitimate measures" to defend its territorial sovereignty.

Scarborough Shoal, known in the Philippines as Bajo de Masinloc, is a triangular chain of reefs about 125 nautical miles (232 kilometers) from Luzon, the main Philippine island. Claimed by China, the Philippines and Taiwan, the shoal has been under Beijing's de-facto control since 2012.

China announced last month the baselines of its territorial sea around Scarborough Shoal to strengthen its claim over the feature that lies within the Philippines' exclusive economic zone.

"Ambassador Geng Shuang, the deputy permanent representative of the People's Republic of China to the United Nations deposited the statement and relevant charts of the baselines of the shoal to the U.N. on behalf of the Chinese government," said the Permanent Mission of the People's Republic of China to the U.N. in a statement on Monday.

By submitting the statement and charts, Beijing apparently aims to make its claim a fait accompli, according to media reports.

"Huangyan Dao [Scarborough Shoal] is an inherent part of China's territory ... This is a normal measure taken by the Chinese government to strengthen maritime administration in accordance with the law, and is in line with international law and practice," said the mission, adding that the country was "fulfilling its obligations" under the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea, or UNCLOS.

A baseline under the UNCLOS is a line that runs along the coast of a country or an island, from which the extent of the territorial sea and other maritime zones such as the exclusive economic zone and extended continental shelf are measured.

The Philippines had not commented by the time of this publication.

In November, however, when Beijing announced the baselines, Manila protested, calling it a violation of "the Philippines' long-established sovereignty over the shoal."

"The establishment of the baselines by China around the shoal is a continuation of its 2012 illegal seizure of the shoal, which the Philippines continues to strongly oppose," said the Philippine Presidential Office for Maritime Concerns at that time.

In 2016, a U.N. arbitration tribunal rejected all of China's claims to reefs in the South China Sea, including the Scarborough Shoal. The tribunal also determined that the shoal is a rock rather than an island.

As a result, while the shoal may qualify for a 12-nautical-mile territorial sea, it cannot establish an exclusive economic zone. Instead, it is recognized as part of the Philippines' exclusive economic zone and continental shelf.

Edited by RFA Staff.

Copyright 1998-2024, RFA. Used with the permission of Radio Free Asia, 2025 M St. NW, Suite 300, Washington DC 20036. For any commercial use of RFA content please send an email to: mahajanr@rfa.org. RFA content December not be used in a manner which would give the appearance of any endorsement of any product or support of any issue or political position. Please read the full text of our Terms of Use.