PUBLISHED: SEPTEMBER 24, 2020 CSIS

On December 12, 2019, Malaysia made a partial submission to the UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS) outlining the northern part of its purported extended continental shelf in the South China Sea. It set off a flurry of diplomatic notes from other claimants and interested parties. China lodged its objections the very same day. A few months later, the Philippines weighed in. Then China again followed by Vietnam and so on. The salvos have continued for nearly a year. To date, 12 countries have joined this back and forth via notes to the CLCS. This also coincided with a general review by Washington of the U.S. position on South China Sea claims. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on July 13 clarified that the United States agrees with the merits of the 2016 decision in the Philippines’ arbitration case against China.