Beijing: A map that China issued that shows its sovereignty claims, including those in the South China Sea, and that Beijing claimed should be considered logically and objectively has been dismissed as unfounded by the Philippines, Malaysia and Vietnam. China unveiled a chart of their infamous U-shaped border, which spans 90% of the South China Sea and is the route of more than $3 trillion in annual trade.
China was advised by the Philippines "to act responsibly and abide by its obligations" under international law and a 2016 arbitral decision that found the border to be without legal justification. Malaysia declared that it has lodged a diplomatic objection to the map. China says the line is based on its historic maps. It was not immediately clear whether the latest map denotes any new claim to territory.
China’s U-shaped line loops as far as 1,500 km south of its Hainan island and cuts into the exclusive economic zones (EEZs) of Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia. The Philippine foreign ministry said, “This latest attempt to legitimise China’s purported sovereignty and jurisdiction over Philippine features and maritime zones has no basis under international law.”
Its Malaysian counterpart said the new map holds no binding authority over Malaysia, which “also views the South China Sea as a complex and sensitive matter”. The map was different to a narrower version submitted by China to the UN in 2009 of the South China Sea that included its so-called “nine dash line”. The latest map was of a broader geographical area and had a line with 10 dashes that included democratically governed Taiwan, similar to a 1948 map of China.