Sovereignty dispute over the Spratly Islands of the Phillipines, by Vo Xuan Vinh

06/06/2011

Sovereignty dispute over the Spratly Islands of the Phillipines, by Vo Xuan Vinh Sovereignty disputes in the South China Sea in general and in the Spratly Islands in particular have become a hot security issue not only in Southeast Asia but also in Asia-Pacific region. The Philippines is one of the six parties that claim sovereignty over parts of the Spratly Islands. The paper's author Vo Xuan Vinh exposes the process of the Philippines’ claims on the Spratly Islands and analyses of its legal basis. To perform this study, the authors analyzed the occurrences and data from 1950 to 2011 on the Philippines’ claim on the Spratly Islands and its process of claiming. Moreover, the author indicates the advantages and disadvantages of the Philippines’ claims on the Spratly Islands. Besides the advantages like geographic proximity and actual control over islands in the Spratly Islands, the Philippines lacks many important legal basis to assert these islands belong to them if they submit the disputes to the International Court of Justice. Abstract