ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the legality of the U-shaped line and the historic rights it has generated, and provides the reader with a more objective and professional assessment of the legal scenario in regard to the U-shaped line. U-shaped line constitutes part of the legal basis for China's claims in the South China Sea. The chapter discusses China's rights and obligations under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). It describes the legal status of the U-shaped line and the legal implications from the line for any maritime entitlement, maritime boundary delimitation and dispute settlement in the South China Sea. It is to be stated that while there are various terminologies for the U-shaped line, the author have chosen to use the term 'U-shaped line' as it is, in his view, more precise than the term 'nine-dash line' used by the Philippines.
