The ambiguity of China's claims in the South China Sea has long been the main obstacle to resolving or even managing the jurisdictional disputes there.
Despite oft-repeated requests from rival claimants as well as the United States, China has declined to clarify exactly what it claims and why.
Its infamous nine-dashed line encompassing most of the South China Sea is open to several interpretations. Is it a depiction of a national boundary claiming all waters and land features within it, or is it a claim only to the islands within it and their "adjacent waters"? And if the latter, what is the extent of the "adjacent waters" — 12 nautical-mile territorial seas, 200-nm exclusive economic zones (EEZs) or something else?