What is the nine dash line?  #defencenews #china #military #navy #australia  #navaloperations
Channel: Soldiers Five
Date: 08/03/2024

The nine dash line is a territorial claim made by the People’s Republic of China over almost the entirety of the South China Sea and the Republic of China also known as Taiwan. 

The claims origin stems from maps drafted by the Nationalist Chinese Water and Land Committee in 1935. 

When the Communist party under Mao Zhedong finally drove their rivals out of the mainland they inherited the boarders drawn up by the Nationalists. 

Unfortunately for Xi Xingping the current leader of the PRC all the countries (including China) bordering the claimed nine dash line are signatories of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.  

UNCLOS recognises a set distance off a countries coastline as its sovereign seas disregarding historical claims. China despite being a signatory denies this treating the South China Sea as their own private lake and treating other countries just trying to exercise their sovereign right as heinous aggressors. 

This is why warships continually exercise their right to freedom of navigation through the south China sea and the Taiwan strait to demonstrate that these are still and will forever be free international waters.