South China Sea has assumed great geopolitical significance in the present context. Comment.

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Ghissu Editorial · Accepted Answer

The South China Sea matters because it carries a large share of world trade, holds disputed oil, gas and fisheries, and has become a test of whether UNCLOS binds a major power. The 2016 Hague award rejecting China's nine-dash line, which Beijing refused, sharpened the contest.

**Introduction**

The 2016 UNCLOS arbitral award in Philippines v. China rejected China's "nine-dash line" claim to most of the South China Sea, and Beijing refused to accept it. That clash between law and power explains the sea's present geopolitical weight.

**Sources of the South China Sea's Rising Significance**

SKETCH: tree | Why the South China Sea Matters
- Economic
  - Sea lanes
  - Oil and gas
  - Fisheries
- Strategic
  - Malacca chokepoint
  - Island bases
- Legal
  - Nine-dash line
  - 2016 UNCLOS award

1. **Arteries of trade**: Roughly a third of global shipping crosses it between the Strait of Malacca and East Asian ports.
2. **Resources under dispute**: The US EIA (2013) estimated about 11 billion barrels of oil and 190 trillion cubic feet of gas there, so overlapping claims by China, Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan become a resource contest.
3. **Militarisation of reefs**: Runways on Spratly features such as Fiery Cross Reef, US freedom of navigation operations since 2015 and the 2023-24 Second Thomas Shoal standoffs show great-power rivalry.
4. **Test of the rules-based order**: China's rejection of the award tests whether UNCLOS binds a major power.

**Significance of the South China Sea for India**

1. **Act East trade and energy**: Much of India's East Asian trade sails these waters, and ONGC Videsh explores Block 128 off Vietnam.
2. **Strategic balancing**: India backs freedom of navigation, sells BrahMos to the Philippines (2022) and works with the Quad.

**Conclusion**

The South China Sea is now a global flashpoint where trade security, energy and international law meet. For India, a free and open sea under UNCLOS is central to its Act East and Indo-Pacific vision.

South China Sea has assumed great geopolitical significance in the present context. Comment.

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