Your assignment is to prepare and submit a paper on the territorial dispute between china and the philippines.

Your assignment is to prepare and submit a paper on the territorial dispute between china and the philippines. Background&nbsp.&nbsp.&nbsp.&nbsp.&nbsp.&nbsp.&nbsp.&nbsp.&nbsp.&nbsp.&nbsp. The Scarborough Shoal is described as “a ring-shaped coral reef which has closely spaced islands on it encircling a lagoon” (Scarborough Shoal 1) with a reported total of 150 square kilometers and bearing only 124 nautical miles off the shore of Zambales, one of the provinces in Luzon, the north portion of the Philippines (Wagner, Tupaz and Pozon). In contrast, the claimant is reportedly located 550 nautical miles from Hainan Island, the closest port of China. The dispute was indicated to have had its historical basis on the grounds of discovery and occupation, to wit: “Beijing now argues that it first discovered and mapped the entire South China Sea during the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368 AD) and that it was again mapped in 1279 AD by Chinese astronomer Guo Shouting in a survey of islands surrounding China. The Philippines likewise claims historical ties to the territory, the earliest being the Carta Hydrographical y Chorographic De Las Islas Filipinas (or “Hydrographic and Chorographic Map of the Philippine Islands”). Published in 1734, Fr. Velarde’s map identified the Shoal as part of Zambales. Later expeditions such as Alejandro Malaspina’s 1808 survey, likewise identified the territory as part of the Philippines” (Wagner, Tupaz and Pozon par. 6).&nbsp.&nbsp.&nbsp.&nbsp.&nbsp.&nbsp.&nbsp.&nbsp.&nbsp.&nbsp.&nbsp. China has been adamant in its claim for Scarborough Shoe as part of the South China Sea. International treaties, including the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), of which both countries are deemed, signatories. Accordingly, UNCLOS was reported to have disclosed provision “for a 200 nautical mile “exclusive economic zone” and “continental shelf” which effectively places Scarborough within Philippine sovereignty or jurisdiction” (Wagner, Tupaz and Pozon par. 8). It was revealed by Lee (2012) that the main issue for the dispute was energy or gas.The current essay at this moment aims to propose a middle-ground solution to the dispute. China was repeatedly reported that it does not want any third-party mediation to the issue. However, it merely sees one solution to the problem: “for the Philippines to surrender all sovereignty over it to China” (Wagner, Tupaz and Pozon par.