South China Sea

choi

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(1) Edward Wong, China's Navy Reaches Far, Unsettling the Region. New York Times, June 15, 2011.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/15/world/asia/15china.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=edward%20Wong&st=cse

Quote:

"Foreign officials and analysts say the skirmishes this year have great potential to devolve into military conflict. 'The situation there seems to be escalating in dangerous ways,' Mr. [Lyle] Goldstein[, a professor at the China Maritime Studies Institute at the United States Naval War College] said.

"Though China has not explicitly delineated its territorial claims, critics in the region say it is relying on a map, drawn up by the old Kuomintang government and supported by the current Communist government, that shows virtually the entire South China Sea under Chinese dominion. Mr. Hong said China’s position on the sea 'has remained unchanged for centuries,' and has called on Vietnam and the Philippines to stop oil exploration there.

"Analysts say the tensions will be a test for the United States, since it is allied with the Philippines and has grown closer to Vietnam.  


Note:
(a) skiff (n): "any of various small boats; especially : a flat-bottomed rowboat"
www.m-w.com
(b) Qingdao Naval Museum 青岛海军博物馆
(c) Quotation 2 alludes to a 1947 map of Republic of China (ROC), which demarcated South China Sea with eleven broken lines (wrapping around even TAiwan), which People's Republic of China replaced with NINE (9) broken lines 九段线. See (2).
(d) Quotation 3 hints US might put its prestige on the line. US (the Obama administration, that is) official position so far only indicates its "national interest" in sealanes, without mentioning the goods underneath.


(2) Q&A: South China Sea Dispute. BBC English, June 13, 2011
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-13748349

Quote:

"In 1947 China issued a map [《南中国海图》1947年正月广东省政府秘书处编制] detailing its claims. It shows the two island groups as falling entirely within its territory. Those claims are mirrored by Taiwan, because the island considers itself the Republic of China and has the same territorial claims.")

"Vietnam hotly disputes China's historical account, saying China never claimed sovereignty over the islands until the 1940s. Vietnam says both island chains are entirely within its territory. It says it has actively ruled over both the Paracels and the Spratlys since the 17th Century - and has the documents to prove it.

My comment: This is some truth to Vietnam's claim. Taiwan's claim over Taiping Island or
Itu Aba Island
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Itu_Aba_Island
(called Taiping Island by Taiwan and other names by Vietnam and the Phillipines; the largest of the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea and the only island with a fresh water supply; section 2 History)

Please take notice that Taian's claim over Taiping Island has nothing to do with China's (or Republic of China's, whether it is historical or otherwise), through its (Taiwan's) declaration and physical occupation of the then unpopulated atoll in 1946. Under international law, occupation does not confer ownership but declaration does.


(3) Michael Wines, Dispute Between Vietnam and China Escalates Over Competing Claims in South China Sea. New York Times, June 11, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/11/world/asia/11vietnam.html?scp=1&sq=michael%20wines%20sea&st=cse
("The issue heated up again last year because of a United Nations treaty that required all nations to file formal claims to continental shelf seabeds by the end of 2009. The documents that Vietnam and China filed asserted their competing territorial claims in the South China Sea more aggressively than they had before")

My comment: There is no need to read the rest.

(4) 北京谈判南中国海争端立场能挺多久？ VOA Chinese, June 15, 2011
http://www.voanews.com/chinese/news/20110615-SCS-dispute-123899119.html
(bilateral or multilateral?)

(5) 菲律宾移除南中国海有争议水域标示物. VOA Chinese, June 15, 2011.
http://www.voanews.com/chinese/news/20110615-south-china-sea-updt-123910019.html

Note: Phl removes foreign markers in Spratlys. The Philippine Star, June 16, 2011 (available now).
http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=696616&publicationSubCategoryId=63

The photo caption of the Filipino newspaper mentions Woody Island, South China Sea
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woody_Island,_South_China_Sea
(永興島; one of the Paracel Islands in the South China Sea; occupied by the People's Republic of China and also claimed by the Republic of China and Vietnam; It has no indigenous inhabitants, although there are People's Liberation Army soldiers are stationed on the island).

Consult the 1947 map in (2) above.

(6) 美国是否会介入南中国海争端？ VOA Chinese, June 14, 2011
http://www.voanews.com/chinese/news/20110614-China-Warns-Outside-Nations-to-Stay-out-of-Sea-Dispute-123848599.html
(马萨：美国不会坐视不管; 波拉克：美国不会直接插手)

Note: The commentators are Michael Mazza of American Enterprise Institute and Jonathan D. Pollack of Brookings Institution.

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