evidence: The two main areas of contestation are the Paracel and the Spratly islands groups, in the North-West and Southeast parts of the South China Sea respectively. The Peoples Republic of China is the most ambitious claimant, asserting that over 80 per cent of the South China Sea is its sovereign territory,[3] which encompasses both the Paracel and Spratly islands, as well as Macclesfield Bank and Scarborough Shoal. The notorious ‘nine-dash line’, which the PRC cites to demonstrate the historic nature of its claim, also cuts through the internationally recognised territory of several Southeast Asian nations, namely Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia, and the Philippines. [...] The PRC’s Parliament passed its ‘Declaration of the Government of the Peoples Republic of China on China’s Territorial Sea’, which asserted the PRC’s sovereignty over the Paracel and Spratly Islands, and claimed that its territorial sea extended to 12 nautical miles from baselines ‘composed of the straight lines connecting base-points on the mainland coast and on the outermost coastal islands.’ The United States denounced the move, describing it as an ‘attempt to cloak aggressive purposes.’ [...] The PRC announced the creation of two new administrative districts under the authority of Sansha city: Xisha, which covers the Paracel Islands, Macclesfield Bank and Scarborough Shoal, and Nansha, which covers the Spratly Islands. The move was denounced by Vietnam and the Philippines.