Building Artificial Islands in Troubled Water

• In Event: Poster Session: International Relations Theory & Conflict Processes: International Conflict and Security
  In Poster Session: Poster Session: Conflict Processes: International Conflict and Security

Abstract

China, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Vietnam have constructed competing artificial islands in the South China Sea. However, according to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, man-made artificial islands cannot possess the status of islands (Article 60(8) and 80). If such artificial islands are not granted the legal status of islands to claim the associate rights of the exclusive economic zone or continental shelf, why have countries constructed them in this disputed region? Moreover, how has the construction of artificial islands ultimately affected the maritime disputes? I use remote sensing on satellite images (USGS Landsat 7 and 8) to collect geospatial data on artificial islands involved in maritime disputes in Asia, Europe, Middle East, and North America. This remote sensing analysis provides geospatial information to explain why maritime claimants have chosen to construct artificial islands in certain locations. I combine this geospatial data with data on maritime conflicts from the Issue Correlates of War (ICOW) project. Through this approach, this paper seeks to explain the spatial determinants in the construction of artificial islands and the effect of the construction of artificial islands on the escalation of maritime disputes. I conclude that maritime claimants tend to construct their artificial islands in closer proximity to the sea lines of communication (SLOCs). While the construction of artificial islands is highly likely to increase the intensity and duration of maritime disputes, it is inconclusive whether the construction of artificial islands increases a chance of a certain maritime claimant obtains any de facto jurisdiction over its contested maritime region.

Author

• Hye Ryeon Jang, Morehouse College