Nearly ten years after the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague rejected China's historic rights claims within its "nine-dash line," the South China Sea dispute remains unresolved. The 2026 Strait of Hormuz closure highlighted the vulnerability of these critical shipping lanes, through which about one-third of global maritime trade passes. Claimant states are now aggressively fortifying their positions not just through naval deployments, but through competing historical narratives disseminated via museums, schools, and monuments.