ANNUAL REPORT

374
Taiwan and the 11-Dash Line
The nine-dash line on Chinese maps of the South China Sea is
based on a map with a line containing 11 dashes that was published
in 1947 by the government of the Republic of China,
which later moved to Taiwan at the end of the Chinese civil
war. 126 There are various explanations of the original meaning
of the line. Although the line clearly encompasses the land features
that the Taiwan government claims, it is unclear whether
it also indicates a claim of sovereignty or jurisdiction over the
waters within the line. 127
One interpretation is offered by Dustin Kuan-Hsiung Wang, a
professor in the Graduate Institute of Political Science at National
Taiwan Normal University. Dr. Wang discussed the original
purpose of the 11-dash or U-shaped line in e-mail correspondence
with Commission staff. Dr. Wang wrote: ‘‘The meanings
of the U-shaped line were probably twofold: one was to
demarcate an area of the South China Sea within which the
Republic of China claimed all islands. Under this, the claim was
not intended to encompass all the water within the lines, but
rather, all the land sovereignty within the lines. The other was
to express the perception of undecided maritime boundaries
between the Republic of China and her neighbors. However, further
negotiations were needed between them, therefore the U-
shaped line was expressed in (eleven) dashes.’’ 128
In 1993, the Taiwan government adopted the Policy Guidelines
for the South China Sea, which declared that ‘‘the South China
Sea area within the historic waters limit is the maritime area
under the jurisdiction of the Republic of China, where the Republic
of China possesses all rights and interests.’’ 129 The Taiwan
government continues to claim the land features in the
South China Sea, but its position regarding the waters appears
to have changed over time. During the last 20 years, Taipei has
gradually stopped using the term ‘‘historic waters.’’ 130 In September
2014, then President Ma said, ‘‘The principle that ‘sovereignty
over land determines ownership of the surrounding
waters,’ which is set out in [UNCLOS], applies to disputes concerning
sovereignty over both land and sea.’’ 131 President Ma’s
clarification of Taiwan’s position that maritime entitlements
should be derived from sovereignty over land in accordance with
UNCLOS contrasts with China’s vague and expansive sovereignty
claims to nearly all of the land and sea within its ninedash
line, which encompasses around 90 percent of the South
China Sea (the South China Sea encompasses more than 1.4 million
square miles of water). The Tsai Administration appears to
be continuing this trend away from Taiwan’s earlier, more expansive
claims, choosing not to mention the dashed line in its response
to the arbitral tribunal’s ruling. 132
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