South China Sea Dispute and China's artificial islands from the perspective of international law

In this study, the South China Sea dispute and the sovereignty claims of the parties to the dispute towards the South China Sea were examined. In the study, an answer was sought to the research question "What is the legal status of the claims of the parties in the South China Sea issue and the legal impact of China's artificial islands". In the study, case analysis, one of the qualitative resarch methods, was used as the main research method and the data on the subject as obtained as a result of literature review. The study consist of three section. In the first section, the geograhpy and importance of the South China Sea, the history of the South China Sea dispute, the United Nations Conferences on the Law of the Sea and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea were examined. In the second section, the disputed areas in the South China Sea, the claims of the party states, the Natuna Islands exclusive economic zone dispute and China's artificial islands were examined. In the third section, the claims of the party states and China's artificial islands were evaluated in terms of international law. The South China Sea issue is an issue that arose when six party states claimed rights over the formations and maritime areas in the region and is still an unresolved issue. The study concluded that the claims of the party states other than China do not constitute any violation of international law and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, but China's nine dash line map, historic right claims and Four Sha Doctrine are contrary to international law. At the same time, it was concluded that the artificial islands built by China in the region have rock status and their status cannot be changed to islands.