copenlu/druid huggingface dataset:
Claim: Spratly Islands is a territory of Malaysia (Spratly Islands, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2024-10-03): In the later half of 1970s, the Philippines and Malaysia began referring to the Spratly Islands as being included in their own territory.[65] On 11 June 1978, the Philippines through Presidential Decree No. 1596, declared the north-western part of the Spratly Islands (referred to therein as the Kalayaan Island Group) as Philippine territory.[65] [...] Tensions at Scarborough Shoal began on April 8, 2012, after the attempted apprehension by the Philippine Navy of eight mainland Chinese fishing vessels near the shoal, beginning the Scarborough Shoal standoff between the Philippine Navy and the Chinese Coast Guard.[75][76] forcing the Philippines to file the Philippines vs China international case under the rules of UNCLOS.[77] In 2016, the Philippines won the case, and the international court effectively invalidated the dash line.[78][79] During the court proceedings, China itself filed an official and binding international "Position Paper", where it recognized the 1900 Treaty of Washington. Under the said treaty, Scarborough Shoal and the Spratlys was recognized as part of the territory of the Philippines. China also reiterated that it recognizes the treaty between the United States and the United Kingdom, where both nations reiterated the recognition of Philippine territory, which included Scarborough Shoal and the Spratlys. The move came as a surprise to the Filipino delegation, where Associate Justice Antonio Carpio stated that China likely did not read the full text of the treaties they reiterated.[24]
Claim: Spratly Islands is a territory of Malaysia (Spratly Islands, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2024-10-08): The Spratly Islands dispute is an ongoing territorial dispute among Brunei, China, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Vietnam concerning "ownership" of the Spratly Islands, a group of islands and associated "maritime features" (reefs, banks, and cays etc.) located in the South China Sea. The dispute is characterized by diplomatic stalemate and the employment of military pressure techniques (such as military occupation of disputed territory) in the advancement of national territorial claims. All except Brunei occupy some of the maritime features. [...] Malaysia [edit]Malaysia claims a small number of islands in the Spratly Islands and its claims cover only the islands included in its exclusive economic zone of 200 miles as defined by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. Malaysia has militarily occupied five islands that it considers to be within its continental shelf.[39] Swallow Reef (Layang Layang / Terumbu Layang / Pulau Layang Layang) was under control in 1983 and has been turned into an island through a land reclamation which now also hosts a dive resort.[40] The Malaysian military also occupies Ardasier Reef (Terumbu Ubi), and Mariveles Reef (Terumbu Mantanani).[citation needed]
Claim: Spratly Islands is a territory of Malaysia (Spratly Islands, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2020-07-19): Malaysia claimed their rights over the Spratly Islands when they extended their country’s continental shelf and EEZ to the southernmost parts of the Spratly Islands in an official map published in 1979. The claims are due to geological proximity and specifically the continental shelf provisions of UNCLOS. The emphasis of the claim is that the island features were terra nullius before the actual claim. Malaysia claimed the sovereignty over all of the islands within its continental shelf under the UNCLOS. [...] Malaysia has been effective in controlling the one feature of the Spratly Island since 1983 and two others as well since 1986. Only the Swallow Reef is one of the features under the control of Malaysia that is also considered as an island. The other occupied features are claimed as the ‘low-tide elevations’ but they are beyond the territorial sea of the mainland. In accordance with article 13 of the UNCLOS, these features cannot form the basis for the extension of the territorial sea. Even though the military garrisons reinforced made Malaysia’s control more effective but still it cannot have legitimate permanent occupation in the Spratly features because it is the most recent state to practice the sovereignty over the Spratly groups.
Claim: Spratly Islands is a territory of Malaysia (Spratly Islands, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2009-08-17): The Spratly Islands are situated roughly in the middle of the South China Sea, halfway between the Philippines and Vietnam. This geographical position placed them squarely on the ideological fault line during the Cold War. Today, they are little better off, as their position puts them uncomfortably close to some of the world’s busiest waterways, including trade routes connecting East Asia with India, the Middle East and Europe, and through which China, Japan, and Korea get 80 percent of their much-needed oil supply. What’s more, according to preliminary surveys, the Spratlys themselves lie above vast reserves of oil and natural gas. [...] Malaysia also claims a part of the archipelago because the islands lie on an extension of Malaysia’s continental shelf. While tiny Brunei refrained from making any official claims, it established a fishing zone that overlaps with the southern section of the archipelago. At the moment, a permanent solution is not in sight. The PRC, ROC, Vietnam, the Philippines, and Malaysia all maintain military presences on the islands. [...] By plane: Layang Layang (Swallow Reef), controlled by Malaysia, is the only island in the Spratlys with regular flights. A popular dive resort, it can be accessed via Kota Kinabalu. By boat: Pagasa (Philippines) and Itu Aba (Taiwan) are accessible on irregular cargo services from their respective mainlands.
Claim: Spratly Islands is a territory of Malaysia (Spratly Islands, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2015-06-19): - Contested territories - Claimed by Brunei, China, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam - Area 425,000 km² ocean 2 km² land The Spratly Islands are a disputed group of islands, islets, cays and reefs in the South China Sea. The area is claimed by Brunei, China, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam. The islands contain approximately 2 km² of land area, spread over a vast area of more than 425,000 km². Some of the islands have civilian settlements, some of them don’t. All of them are occupied by military forces in an attempt to establish international boundaries.
Claim: Spratly Islands is a territory of Malaysia (Spratly Islands, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2023-07-07): The other major claimant to the area is the Philippines, which invokes its geographical proximity to the Spratly Islands as the main basis of its claim for part of the grouping. [...] Malaysia and Brunei also lay claim to territory in the South China Sea that they say falls within their economic exclusion zones, as defined by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, or UNCLOS. Brunei does not claim any of the disputed islands, but Malaysia claims a small number of islands in the Spratlys.
Claim: Spratly Islands is a territory of Malaysia (Spratly Islands, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2015-12-15): Taiwan: Andu Tan, 安渡灘 Vietnam: Đá Kiêu Ngựa Malaysia occupies a total of five features in the Spratly Islands. They are clustered in the southern portion of the archipelago, closest to the Malaysian state of Sabah.
Claim: Spratly Islands is a territory of Malaysia (Spratly Islands, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2024-10-09): Financial market analysis and financial data for major energy companies. [...] EIA's open source code, available on GitHub. [...] Reports requested by congress or otherwise deemed important.
Claim: Spratly Islands is a territory of Malaysia (Spratly Islands, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2020-08-31): For more than a decade, China has vigorously staked a claim to most of the SCS as its sovereign territory, within the so-called "nine-dash line." The rising power has been encroaching on territory within the 200-mile exclusive economic zones (EEZ) of Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Indonesia; threatening force against US military intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) activities in China’s EEZ; and protesting against US FON and overflight operations near People’s Liberation Army (PLA) outposts well outside China’s EEZ. In particular, Beijing has encroached by using China’s powerful coast guard, armed fishing fleet and militias, backed by an even more powerful PLA Navy (PLAN). Together, these measures have methodically pushed back the weaker maritime forces of Vietnam and the Philippines from parts of their EEZs and challenged those of Malaysia and Indonesia. In addition, China has constructed artificial islands and positioned PLAN and PLA Air Force (PLAAF) units and surface-to-air (SAM) and surface-to-surface missiles in the Spratly and Paracel Islands, thereby expanding the antiaccess, area denial (A2/AD) capability that threatens the US and its allies and partners in the SCS.
Claim: Spratly Islands is a territory of Malaysia (Spratly Islands, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2024-02-28): The disputes over ownership of the South China Sea remained relatively dormant until the 1970s when China began asserting its vast territorial claims after discovering potential oil and gas reserves in the sea. In 1974 China seized the Paracel Islands from South Vietnam; more than 65 Vietnamese soldiers were killed in the process. China then took possession of Johnson Reef (part of the Spratly Islands) from Vietnam in 1988 and Mischief Reef (also part of the Spratlys), claimed by the Philippines, in 1994. China now controls the Paracel Islands in their entirety. The plurality of the Spratlys’ reefs and islands are controlled by Vietnam, while the Philippines and China each claim and operate on a sizable portion of the archipelago. Malaysia and Brunei both have claimed some features of the Spratly Islands as well as EEZs off their coasts that overlap with China’s claims. [...] In the early 2020s tensions intensified as maritime confrontations increased, especially between China and the Philippines, leading to joint naval drills between the Philippines and the United States in the South China Sea. In August 2023 China revealed a revised map of its territory in the South China Sea, which claimed an even larger portion of the sea. A 10th dash was added to include the island of Taiwan and nearly the entirety of the Spratly Islands as Chinese territory. Several countries rejected the map.
Claim: Spratly Islands is a territory of Malaysia (Spratly Islands, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2023-10-24): By the Song dynasty, China maintained that it was naming and claiming territory in the island chains it calls Nansha (the Spratly Islands) and Xisha (the Paracel Islands). [...] For example, in the UN’s archival end-notes: "On 12 June 1985, the Secretary-General received from the Government of China the following communication: ‘The so-called Kalayaan Islands are part of the Nansha [Spratly] Islands, which have always been Chinese territory. The Chinese government has stated on many occasions that China has indisputable sovereignty over the Nansha Islands and at the adjacent waters and resources.’" [...] "In the 1970s and 1980s, China took over control of much of the Paracel Islands in the northern SCS [South China Sea] and Johnson South Reef in the Spratly Islands in the southeast quadrant of the SCS, both in Vietnam’s EEZ," the United States department of defence wrote.
Claim: Spratly Islands is a territory of Malaysia (Spratly Islands, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2024-09-29): Spratly Islands, large group of reefs, shoals, atolls, and small islets in the South China Sea of the Pacific Ocean. They are located north of insular Malaysia and are roughly midway between Vietnam and the Philippines, and they are claimed—wholly or in part—by several countries in the region. The Spratlys are spread out over a vast area of ocean measuring some 158,000 square miles (409,000 square km). A great number of them are submerged. Of the 12 main naturally occurring islets, the largest is the 90-acre (36-hectare) Itu Aba. Another, called Spratly Island or Storm Island, measures 900 by 1,500 feet (275 by 450 metres). Turtles and seabirds are the only wildlife. There is no permanent human habitation. [...] By the late 20th century, Vietnam, China, Taiwan, Malaysia (with its occupation of Turumbu Layang-Layang reef [June 1983]), and the Philippines all had conflicting claims to the Spratlys, supported (except, initially, in the case of China) by garrisons on various islands. Although Brunei did not claim any territory in the Spratlys, it did declare an EEZ that contained a Spratly reef. The United States, which has been the dominant presence in the Pacific region for most of the period since the early 20th century, has not recognized the claims of any country on the Spratlys, insisting instead that the Spratlys are in international waters.
Claim: Spratly Islands is a territory of Malaysia (Spratly Islands, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2022-06-23): Malaysia’s claims in the SCS involve the waters surrounding the eastern border of Peninsular Malaysia and East Malaysia (Sabah and Sarawak, on the island of Borneo) (Mahadzir 2014). Kuala Lumpur has avoided levelling too much public criticism at China, due in part to the influential ethnic Chinese group in that country (in 2020, 22.6% of Malaysia’s population was classified as Chinese, with 69.6% Bumiputera, or ethnic Malay), as well as China’s outsized influence on the Malaysian economy (Kaplan 2014; Hirschmann 2021). Although Kuala Lumpur has always sought a unified ASEAN position on the SCS border disputes, it has not shirked its responsibility to continue modernizing its military force while strengthening its military and economic ties with the United States (Mahadzir 2014). Malaysia also makes EEZ claims over parts of the Spratly Islands, which unlike the Philippines, Vietnam, and China, are consistent the rules set down by UNCLOS. However, Malaysia claims that the islands of the Spratly archipelago that are within its EEZ should be considered Malaysian territory, which deviates somewhat from a strict reading of UNCLOS, as those islands are not inhabited and therefore are not covered.
Claim: Spratly Islands is a territory of Malaysia (Spratly Islands, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2017-05-24): It should be noted, however, that none of these states has formally made a legal claim to a territorial sea around these features. Indeed, no state has made any specific claims to the waters surrounding the features it occupies in the Spratly Islands. [...] On January 29, 2016, the U.S. Navy destroyer USS Curtis Wilbur conducted a freedom of navigation operation by transiting under innocent passage within 12 nautical miles of Triton Island in the Paracel Islands. Triton Island is occupied by the Chinese, but also claimed by Taiwan and Vietnam. The island is legally entitled to a territorial sea. The freedom of navigation operation was designed to challenge policies by China, Taiwan, and Vietnam requiring prior permission or notification of transit under innocent passage in the territorial sea. Accordingly, the United States did not provide notification, or request permission, in advance of transiting under innocent passage. The United States does not take a position on which nation has sovereignty over each feature in the Spratly Islands, and the operation was not intended to challenge any country’s claims of sovereignty over land features. [...] On May 24, 2017, the U.S. Navy destroyer USS Dewey conducted a freedom of navigation operation by transiting within 12 nautical miles of Mischief Reef in the Spratly Islands. Mischief Reef is occupied by the Chinese, but also claimed by the Philippines, Taiwan, and Vietnam. When the Permanent Court of Arbitration issued the decision in Philippines v. China, it found Mischief Reef to be a low-tide elevation. For that reason, Mischief Reef is not legally entitled to a territorial sea.
Claim: Spratly Islands is a territory of Malaysia (Spratly Islands, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2023-09-29): The Chinese military has constructed a number of military outposts on occupied and reclaimed features in the Spratly Islands and steadily equipped these outposts with an increasing array of advanced military capabilities, Ford said. "The [Chinese military] has sharply increased coercive and risky operational behavior in the air and at sea, threatening lawfully operating American, allied and partner forces," she said. "This includes sinking Vietnamese fishing vessels, using military aircraft to harass Malaysian offshore energy exploration, flying within 20 feet of U.S. military aircraft and deploying water cannons and military grade lasers to block and target Philippine resupply boats headed toward Second Thomas Shoal." [...] Partners across the region and beyond have condemned the Chinese behavior in the South China Sea. These include Australia, Japan, Canada, the United Kingdom and the European Union. "All protested the aggressive [Chinese] maneuvers that we saw against the Philippines at the Second Thomas Shoal," she said.
Claim: Spratly Islands is a territory of Malaysia (Spratly Islands, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2024-05-11): As reserves closer to shore run dry, Malaysia is venturing farther into disputed waters of the South China Sea claimed and patrolled by China. [...] A handful of Chinese vessels patrol the waters at Luconia Shoals, about 60 nautical miles off the Malaysian coast, near major gas fields like Kasawari. But a much bigger fleet of hundreds of Chinese coast guard ships and maritime militia are based farther north, near the Spratly Islands, where Petronas has designated new clusters for oil and gas exploration. The closer Malaysia’s energy projects come to the Spratlys, the greater the likelihood of confronting the Chinese, said Harrison Prétat, deputy director at the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative at D.C.-based Center for Strategic and International Studies. [...] Petronas rejected requests for interviews and did not respond to inquiries about the South China Sea. But last year, after Beijing released a new map of the waterway that expanded Chinese claims, Petronas’ chief executive, Tengku Muhammad Taufik Aziz, made an unusually strong statement of objection. Extracting offshore oil and gas is within Malaysia’s sovereign rights, he said. "Petronas," he added, "will very vigorously defend Malaysia’s rights."
Claim: Spratly Islands is a territory of Malaysia (Spratly Islands, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2024-09-17): China’s sweeping claims of sovereignty over the sea—and the sea’s estimated 11 billion barrels of untapped oil and 190 trillion cubic feet of natural gas—have antagonized competing claimants Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Vietnam. As early as the 1970s, countries began to claim islands and various zones in the South China Sea, such as the Spratly Islands, which possess rich natural resources and fishing areas. The failure of Chinese and Southeast Asian leaders to resolve the disputes diplomatically could undermine international laws governing maritime disputes and encourage destabilizing arms buildups. [...] Upon assuming office in June 2022, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. rejected the conciliatory stance toward China adopted by his predecessor, Rodrigo Duterte. The Philippines’ most contentious disputes with China center on the Second Thomas Shoal of the Spratly Islands, which lies within the Philippines’ 200-mile EEZ. In 1999, the Philippines intentionally grounded a ship to reinforce its territorial claims to the area which it calls the West Philippine Sea. Since then, the Philippine Coast Guard has conducted monthly resupply missions to its military contingent on the ship, known as the BRP Sierra Madre. Chinese Coast Guard vessels began to employ dangerous tactics to harass Philippine resupply missions in 2023, leading to heightened clashes. Collisions have become increasingly common, and the Chinese Coast Guard has used a military-grade laser and repeatedly fired water cannons against Philippine ships. On June 17, a Chinese vessel and a Philippine supply ship collided near the Second Thomas Shoal; both sides blamed the other for the incident.
Claim: Spratly Islands is a territory of Malaysia (Spratly Islands, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2024-08-15): Malaysia claims ten maritime features in the southern region of the Spratly Islands but may have dropped its claim to an eleventh feature, Louisa Reef. Of the ten features to which it maintains a clear claim, Malaysia controls seven. Vietnam and China also claim all of the features that Malaysia claims, while the Philippines claims only some of the features. [...] – Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, 1995 "Erica Reef and Investigator Shoal belong to Malaysia and not the Philippines, and…Malaysia therefore has the right to build structures on these maritime features….If the Philippines resorts to aggressive action it will lead to tension but we find that they will not resort to this….The Spratlys issue should be resolved as a multilateral problem as this had been agreed to at ASEAN meetings."
Claim: Spratly Islands is a territory of Malaysia (Spratly Islands, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2014-01-09): Malaysia's maritime territory in the South China Sea encompasses twelve features, be they islands, rocks, reefs, shoals and atolls in the Spratly Islands. Malaysia maintains a physical presence on five of the features. These are Pulau Layang-Layang (Swallow Reef), Terumbu Mantanani (Mariveles Reef), Terumbu Ubi (Ardasier Reef), Terumbu Siput (Erica Reef), and Terumbu Peninjau (Investigator Reef). Two other features, though lying within Malaysia's claims, are occupied by the Philippines and Vietnam, with the Philippines occupying Terumbu Laksamana (Commodore Reef) and the Vietnamese occupying Pulau Amboyna Kecil (Amboyna Cay). Malaysian special forces actually landed on Pulau Amboyna in 1978 and placed markers, but the Vietnamese who subsequently occupied the feature destroyed them. Malaysia then began a series of gradual claims of several positions in the area beginning in May 1983 when special forces personnel occupied Pulau Layang-Layang (Swallow Reef). The full details of the developments of these military outposts will be discussed later in the chapter.
Claim: Spratly Islands is a territory of Malaysia (Spratly Islands, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2024-08-15): Brunei, located in Southeast Asia on the north-western coast of the island of Borneo, claims a 200-nautical mile (nm) exclusive economic zone (EEZ) that overlaps with China’s nine-dash line, as well as a 12-nm territorial sea and a continental shelf. Brunei asserts its maritime jurisdiction over these areas. Brunei appears to claim the one land feature within its EEZ, Louisa Reef, though different members of the government have made conflicting claims. Part of the Spratly Islands archipelago, Louisa Reef is also claimed by China, Taiwan, and Vietnam. Malaysia appears to have rescinded its claim to Louisa Reef. Brunei may also claim part of the area known as Rifleman Bank, which is fully submerged, as part of its extended continental shelf. [...] In 2009, however, the two country’s leaders came to settle the territorial issues through an exchange of letters. While the letters have not been made public, the bilateral issues settled in the agreement were summarized in a press statement released by Brunei’s Minister of Foreign Affairs: [...] Brunei has not taken action to assert its territorial claim over Louisa Reef in recent years. After publishing a map in 1988 to announce the extent of its continental shelf claim, Brunei protested Malaysia’s claim to the reef in 1992. That same year, it protested Chinese maritime research in the area.