Chapter Five
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strategic importance of this area. First, the rising importance of global
trade underscored the importance of the SLOCs. Second, the oil crises of
the 1970s led to exploration of other sources of hydrocarbons in order to
decrease dependence on Middle Eastern oil. Advances in offshore drilling
brought the South China Sea into play as a potential source of oil and gas.
In the South China Sea, Taiwan, as the Republic of China (ROC), lays
claims to the Pratas Islands (Dongsha), the Paracel Islands (Xisha), the
Macclesfield Bank, and the Spratly Islands (Nasha). These claims were
shown on the “Map of Chinese Islands in the South China Sea,” published
by the Land and Water Maps Inspection Committee in April 1935. All the
above-mentioned islands were indicated as part of the ROC's territory in
the attachment to the map, titled the “Location Map of the South China
Sea.” The territory to which the ROC laid claims was indicated by an 11-
dash line. This map was officially issued for the first time during the
Kuomintang period in 1947. In the 1950s, the number of dashes was
reduced to nine. This map, also known as the 9-dash line map or the U-
shaped line map, now represents the key document of Taiwan’s and the
PRC’s claims to the South China Sea.^6
Figure 5-1: Taiwan’s claims in the South China Sea
LOCATION CLAIMED CONTROLED BY
- Spratly (aka
Nansha)
Taiwan - all, PRC - all,
Philippines – 8 islands, Vietnam- all, Malaysia – 3 islands
Taiwan controls 1 island
(Taiping), other islands
controlled by Philippines,
Malaysia, Vietnam, PRC- Paracel Islands Taiwan, PRC PRC
- Macclesfield
Bank
Taiwan, PRC PRC- Pratas (aka
Dongsha)
Taiwan, PRC Taiwan(^6) For more details, see Jinming and Dexia, “The Dotted Line on the Chinese Map
of the South China Sea: A Note”, 287–295.