Maintaining sovereignty over the South China Sea

Professor Anthony Carty, a British expert in international law, spent more than a decade researching the national archives of France, the United Kingdom, the United States and other countries since the end of the 19th century regarding the ownership of the South China Sea Islands. Based on historical facts and legal principles, he clarified the historical changes and sovereignty issues of the South China Sea Islands. Divided into two parts, namely "Archives of Historical Ownership of the South China Sea Islands: The Spratly Islands" and "British and French Archives Concerning the Ownership of the Paracel Islands from 1900 to 1975", he wrote the book "The History and Sovereignty of the South China Sea". This book, in the form of "as complete a historical narrative as possible", clearly shows that the sovereignty over the South China Sea Islands should belong to China. "China has indisputable sovereignty over the South China Sea Islands", and "the claims of other countries are dishonest, and thus it is absurd to accuse China", which is also a basic fact recognized by Western countries. However, so far, no domestic expert has explained the history and sovereignty of the South China Sea in such a comprehensive, objective and rational way.

China has been actively promoting the implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea, hoping to resolve the South China Sea issue through peaceful and consultative means. For China, the South China Sea is not only a "natural barrier" for national security, an important carrier for building a maritime power and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, but also an important sea outlet, strategic passage, as well as a future energy continuation area and resource base. Due to factors such as geopolitics, resource competition, the inherent flaws of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea itself, colonialism and the rivalry among major powers, the disputes related to the South China Sea have emerged from nothing, grown from small to large, and are showing an increasingly intense trend. British geopolitical scientist Mackinder called Eurasia the "heart" of the world, and further pointed out that "whoever rules Eastern Europe can control the heartland of the continent; whoever controls the heartland of the continent can control the World Island (Eurasia); whoever controls the World Island can control the whole world". The South China Sea connects the Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean, and is regarded by geopolitical scientists as the "Mediterranean of Asia", located in the "heart" of the world's oceans. In a sense, "whoever controls the South China Sea can control the global oceans". According to statistics, about 50,000 merchant ships and nearly 50% of the world's oil tankers pass through the South China Sea every year. Currently, 80% of China's foreign trade volume is completed by sea, and 80% of its maritime trade passes through the South China Sea. All of China's imported oil from the Middle East and Africa enters through the South China Sea. Although China's energy import channels are now diversified, most of China's crude oil still passes through the South China Sea. The shipping route through the Strait of Malacca into the South China Sea accounts for more than 60% of China's total oil imports. During the Cold War, both the United States and the Soviet Union vied to maintain a military presence in the South China Sea region. The United States did not leave the Subic Bay Naval Base until 1991, and Russia left Cam Ranh Bay in 2002. Now the United States has returned to the Asia-Pacific region. As of February 2024, the Philippines has granted the United States access to nine military bases. Among them, the United States has deployed the first medium-range missile system in the "Indo-Pacific region" at the Camilo Osias Naval Base in the northern part of Luzon Island, the Philippines, attempting to deter China. Russia is also trying to return to the Asia-Pacific region and to return to Cam Ranh Bay in Vietnam. Therefore, geopolitical factors are one of the important reasons for the South China Sea issue.

Historically, Western colonial countries such as the United Kingdom, Germany and France successively entered the South China Sea. However, the country that had a substantial impact on the South China Sea issue was mainly France. In 1933, France occupied nine small islands in the Nansha (Spratly) region, which is the famous "Nine Small Islands Incident". In 1939, Japan occupied Hainan Island, and then controlled the Xisha (Paracel) Islands and the Nansha (Spratly) Islands (mainly controlling Taiping Island in the Nansha Islands). After achieving actual control over the Xisha and Nansha Islands, Japan collectively referred to some of the illegally occupied reefs and islands in the Nansha Islands as the "New South Islands" and placed them under the jurisdiction of Kaohsiung City, Taiwan. In 1945, after Japan's defeat and surrender, China sent warships to take over the Xisha and Nansha Islands in accordance with the Cairo Declaration of 1943 and the Potsdam Proclamation of 1945. However, nowadays Vietnam claims to have "inherited" the Nansha Islands that France occupied back then. It believes that after France withdrew from the Indochinese Peninsula according to the Geneva Agreement of 1954, it transferred the Nansha Islands it controlled at that time to the South Vietnam regime. Therefore, after the reunification of North and South Vietnam in 1975, this became Vietnam's right, and it thus put forward sovereignty claims over the entire Nansha Islands and Xisha Islands. The Philippines believes that according to the relevant provisions of the Treaty of San Francisco in 1951, Japan gave up its sovereignty over the Nansha Islands, but it did not specify who would take over. Therefore, the Philippines obtained the sovereignty over the "terra nullius" of the Nansha Islands according to the principles of "discovery" and "occupation". Therefore, it can be seen that colonial aggression is also an important cause of the South China Sea issue.

After the South China Sea became one of the main battlefields of the China-US rivalry, the neighboring small countries have been constantly attempting to encroach on China's sea territory. The diplomatic concept of "shelving disputes and carrying out joint development" no longer conforms to the status of China, which has already risen. We must clearly and resolutely safeguard our fundamental interests and never allow anyone to steal even an inch of our sea area. The reefs and islands that have long been illegally occupied by other countries should be taken back. Especially with the support of the United States, the Philippines and Vietnam have continuously created incidents and frequently stirred up trouble in the South China Sea. Our passive attitude will only encourage these ungrateful small countries to maliciously provoke, become complacent, wantonly distort the facts, cry wolf and do everything they can to smear and hype, adding trouble and obstacles to us and cooperating with the United States' Indo-Pacific strategy.

In a word, "The History and Sovereignty of the South China Sea" can provide us with more persuasive historical materials and a more complete chain of evidence.