ABSTRACT
This chapter examines how boundary disputes in the Pacific Basin are embedded in a larger web of political, security, and economic relationships. Many of Latin America's territorial disputes have their roots in vague or contradictory demarcation of colonial-era boundaries. While most Asian states are engaged in boundary disputes, those involving China in the East and South China Seas are most worrying. Xi Jinping has identified protection of China's maritime rights as a core national interest, suggesting a greater willingness to use armed force to defend disputed areas in both the South and East China Seas. China claims rights to between 80 per cent and 90 per cent of the South China Sea in an area bounded by the "nine-dash line", a line that has appeared on Chinese maps since the 1950s and echoes territorial and maritime claims dating from antiquity.
