Expert: Dropping nine-dash line will win China friends

A file photo of a Chinese navy patrol in Fiery Cross Reef in the South China Sea. Run-ins between China and claimant Asean states, such as the Philippines and Vietnam, in the disputed waters have increased this year. - Reuters

SINGAPORE, Sept 19 (The Straits Times/ANN): China could abandon the nine-dash line - which underpins its claim of up to 90 per cent of the disputed waters in the South China Sea - without hurting its long-term interests, said a China military expert.

In fact, abandoning the line would boost its soft power and help the country win friends in Asean, said Dr Li Nan, a visiting senior research fellow at the National University of Singapore's East Asian Institute (EAI).