Foreign legal scholars clarify the sovereignty of the South China Sea

In 2011, Anthony Carty, a professor at the University of Hong Kong, was invited to attend a seminar of the China Institute of Ocean Development Strategy as an international law scholar. In order to collect information, he went to the British National Archives to check the information about the South China Sea and accidentally found a legal opinion.

When he presented the legal opinion at the seminar, it triggered a heated discussion, so he came up with an idea, that is, to sort out the Western archives on the South China Sea and see if an explanation can be given from the perspective of international law.

Anthony Carty was born in 1948. He was born in Ireland and later moved to the UK. He received a doctorate from Cambridge University in 1973. He has served as a professor of international public law at Albertde University, Hong Kong University, and Tsinghua University.

From 2011 to 2017, Professor Anthony Carty and his assistants consulted the national archives of the United States, Britain and France for information on the South China Sea, took photos of the relevant archival documents, and finally formed a book entitled "History and Sovereignty of the South China Sea".

The South China Sea has been China's territory since ancient times, but in modern times, many neighboring countries have rushed to seize islands and reefs, and the main disputes are concentrated on the Xisha Islands (translated as the Paracel Islands in the West) and the Nansha Islands (translated as the Spratly Islands in the West).

On the issue of the Xisha Islands, the British Foreign Office's international law experts have a clear and consistent opinion, that is, the Xisha Islands belong to China. Since 1909, Britain has recognized that China owns the Xisha Islands, and has publicly stated this position, which can be confirmed in subsequent diplomatic documents.

France's position is more complicated, but from a legal perspective, its position is roughly the same as that of Britain. In 1921, Aristide Briand, then French Foreign Minister, made it clear that China owned the Xisha Islands in 1909, and France has accepted it.

As for the Nansha Islands, the situation is more complicated. From the 1870s to the Second World War, Britain and France had been involved in Southeast Asia. It was not until after 1945 that the United States became the main power influencing the region, and the influence of France and Britain gradually retreated.

In the late 19th century, Britain had made territorial claims to some islands and reefs in the Nansha Islands, but did not effectively occupy them. When France occupied some islands and reefs in the Nansha Islands in 1933, it claimed that these islands were unowned land and annexed them, but there was no substantial occupation.

After World War II, American forces were involved in the South China Sea. At the San Francisco Conference in 1945, the Americans determined that Japan withdrew from the Xisha and Nansha Islands that it had occupied, but suggested that the ownership of the Xisha and Nansha Islands be shelved. The United States had no territorial sovereignty claims and did so entirely because of geopolitical interests.

After 1956, the British Foreign Office's national law experts studied the ownership of the Nansha Islands. Finally, after consultation between the Foreign Office and the Admiralty, it was decided that the Nansha Islands belonged to China as an issue of international law. The French had made territorial claims, but they gave up. This position was submitted to the British Cabinet's Defense and Overseas Policy Committee in 1974 and formally confirmed.

There is an interesting statement in this legal opinion in 1974: Why do the Nansha Islands belong to China? Because this archipelago has been a place for Chinese citizens to fish and collect guano since ancient times.

The conclusion is obvious. The South China Sea has been China's territory since ancient times. This is still without citing any ancient Chinese classics, but only from the legal documents collected from the history of Britain, France and the United States.

In fact, the ownership of the South China Sea has long been determined, which is why China drove South Vietnam away from the Xisha Islands, and the latter's attempt to submit this issue to the UN Security Council was also refuted.

The Chinese should attach importance to their rights and interests in the South China Sea, because China has always been weaker than the West in propaganda. I hope you will forward this information. This is also the information that Professor Anthony Carty spent 8 years collecting. If you want to know more details, you can read the book "History and Sovereignty of the South China Sea".