July 11, 2026

TANMEN, China/DA NANG, Vietnam/MANILA – Nearly a decade has passed since The Hague issued its landmark decision in the South China Sea Arbitration, in which it found that China’s claims of historic rights within a vague, U-shaped boundary called the nine-dash line had no legal standing under United Nations conventions. Yet the region is still far from agreement on the matter.

Disruptions to energy supplies and other materials from the closure of the Strait of Hormuz in 2026 are a sharp reminder of the vulnerability of the critical shipping lanes that facilitate global trade. About one-third of global maritime shipping passes through the South China Sea, a vital conduit for Indo-Pacific trade routes.

The front lines of the overlapping and varied claims, meanwhile, have broadened beyond international law and the dispatch of naval destroyers. It is being aggressively fortified by competing historical narratives, disseminated through institutions ranging from state-funded museums to primary school classrooms.

Read more:

https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/who-was-here-first-why-maps-old-compasses-and-history-classes-matter-in-disputed-south-china-sea