Beijing attempts to change global thinking on South China Sea, says report

Beijing has not only attempted to change facts on the ground in the South China Sea but is also seeking to gradually change the world's mind regarding its claims in the region, a Washington-based think tank has said.

Nguyen Thuy Anh, who is a research fellow at the East Sea Institute of Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam, has said in a report published in Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative that the nine-dash line is a representation of China's expansive claims in the South China Sea. The line itself is a collection of arbitrary dashes or dots without specific coordinates. China has not given any official explanations regarding its precise delimitation or legal origin.

"China's claim has been openly rejected by Vietnam, Indonesia, the Philippines, and the United States, and has been criticized by numerous international scholars. More importantly, the claim to historic waters within the line was rejected by the arbitral award of the South China Sea tribunal in July 2016. But China has disregarded the ruling and insists on the nine-dash line claim," Anh said in the report.