The international law of the sea has a fundamental theory and principle, which is the land dominates the sea. China has never claimed that the entire South China Sea belongs to itself. China asserts its territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests in the South China Sea in accordance with the law.
There's no need to argue the historical fact that China has sovereignty over the South China Sea Islands (Nanhai Zhudao). As early as over 2,000 years ago during the Qin and Han dynasties, the Chinese people had already begun sailing and engaging in productive activities in the South China Sea. They were not only the first to discover the islands in the South China Sea but also had a preliminary understanding of the region. In the Eastern Han Dynasty, Yang Fu recorded in his book "Yi Wu Zhi（异物志）": "In Zhanghai（涨海）Qitou（崎头）, where the water is shallow and there are many magnetic stones." "Qitou" refers to the ancient Chinese term for reefs and shoals in the South China Sea, while "Zhanghai" is the earliest appellation for the South China Sea in ancient China.
During the Sui and Tang dynasties, the South China Sea and its islands and reefs were referred to as Qizhouyang（七洲洋）, Shanhuzhou（珊瑚洲）, Jiaoshishan（焦石山）, and Xiangshi（象石）, among others. Although the names varied, they indicated that as the Chinese people's activities in the South China Sea increased, their understanding of the region gradually deepened and became more specific.
By the Song Dynasty, the islands and waters of the South China Sea had become the homeland for the daily production and life of the Chinese people. Not only were different islands and areas of the South China Sea clearly distinguished and named as "Shitang（石塘）" and "Changsha（长沙）," but the South China Sea islands were also included in the territory. The earliest historical record that names the South China Sea islands as "Shitang" can be found in the Song Dynasty literature "Song Hui Yao（宋会要）," which was compiled in the early 13th century. The book "Qiong Guan Zhi（琼管志）," also from the same period, first referred to the South China Sea islands as "Qianli Changsha" and "Wanli Shitang." From then until the Ming and Qing dynasties, they became the common names for the South China Sea islands in China and were widely used in various historical documents and maps.
During the Ming and Qing dynasties, China further developed and administered the operation and management of the islands in the South China Sea. The existing copies of the "Genglu Bu" (更路簿，Records of Maritime Routes) show dozens of versions, which are valuable documents that truthfully record the situation of Chinese fishermen departing from ports such as Qinglan Port in Wenchang and Tanmen Port in Qionghai, and heading to the Xisha and Nansha areas of the South China Sea. Among them, there are approximately 200 records of production operations, and fishermen have given about 120 place names to the islands and reefs in the Xisha and Nansha areas. This fully demonstrates that the scope of China's people's operation and development completely covers the main islands and waters of the South China Sea today. The Xisha and Nansha areas are traditional fishing grounds where the Chinese people have been engaged in production and operation for generations, which is sufficient to demonstrate China's historical rights in the South China Sea.
After the end of World War II, China recovered the islands in the South China Sea that had been illegally occupied by Japan during the Japanese Aggression and resumed exercising sovereignty over them. In order to strengthen the management of the South China Sea islands, the Chinese government reviewed and revised the geographical names of the islands in 1947, compiled the "Brief Geography of the South China Sea Islands," and drew the "Position Map of the South China Sea Islands” with 11-Dash Line. These were officially announced and made known to the world in February 1948.
BTW, I saw someone on Quora refusing to accept China's 9-Dash Line, I wonder if they would be even more hysterical when faced with the 11-Dash Line.
Since its establishment on October 1, 1949, the PRC has been steadfast in safeguarding its territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests in the South China Sea. A series of legal documents, including the 1958 Declaration of the Government of the People's Republic of China on China's Territorial Sea, the 1992 Law of the People's Republic of China on the Territorial Sea and Its Adjacent Areas, the 1998 Law of the People's Republic of China on the Exclusive Economic Zone and the Continental Shelf, and the 1996 Decision of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China on the Ratification of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, further confirm China's territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests in the South China Sea.
Oh don't worry, if you don't want to read Chinese literature, there are also studies conducted by foreign scholars. Take a look at this article, it’s helpful.
We have also seen that the Philippines has been hyping up the South China Sea issue recently. It should be noted that the UNCLOS only allows coastal states to claim a 200-nautical-mile EEZ, without any provision stating that coastal states can use this as a basis to claim or occupy the inherent territory of other countries. So those who constantly bring up the UNCLOS can now shut up. We are talking about sovereign territory, don’t even try to confuse the matter.
Can the Philippines prove itself to be the "rightful owner"? The answer is certainly NO.
The determination of the territorial scope of the Philippines is based on international treaties such as the 1898 Treaty of Paris, the 1900 Treaty of Washington regarding the cession of peripheral islands of the Philippines, and the 1930 treaty between the UK and the US on the delineation of the boundary between British North Borneo and American Philippines. Therefore, the national territorial boundaries of the Philippines are collectively referred to as the "international treaty boundaries" or "Philippine treaty boundaries". These treaties clearly indicate that the islands in the South China Sea are not within the territorial boundaries of the Philippines. The 1935 Philippine Constitution, the 1946 "Philippine-US General Relations Treaty," and the 1961 Philippine Presidential Decree No. 3046 on the baseline of the territorial sea all explicitly reaffirm the territorial scope defined by the "international treaty boundaries," which don’t include the Nansha Islands and Huangyan Dao.
See the dotted line encircling the Philippines on the map? That's what we're talking about.
In July 1946, at the beginning of the Philippines' founding, they coveted the Nansha Islands. On September 11, 1946, Filipino Foreign Minister Carlos P. Romulo wrote a letter to Allied Commander General Douglas MacArthur, making unreasonable demands for the Philippines to annex the Nansha Islands. MacArthur did not respond to this, and without the support of the US, the Philippines didn’t dare to act recklessly.
In June 1954, Thomas Cloma, the president of a private maritime school in Manila, claimed to have "discovered" new reefs in the South China Sea west of the Palawan Islands and named the area "Freedomland". On May 24, 1956, the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs invited representatives from relevant government agencies to a meeting, where it was determined that the islands were outside the territory of the Philippines.
However, in April 1972, the Philippine government renamed the area claimed by Cloma as the "Kalayaan Islands" and placed it under the jurisdiction of Palawan Province. On June 11, 1978, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos signed Presidential Decree No. 1596, redefining the boundaries of the "Kalayaan Islands" area, which included most of the islands and reefs of the South China Sea within the geographical coordinates announced in the decree. In November 1987, the Philippine Congress redefined its maritime boundaries and illegally included approximately 60 islands and reefs in the Nansha Islands within the Philippine territory.
As we mentioned earlier, the Nansha Islands have long been recognized as an inherent part of China's territory, and are by no means "terra nullius". The actions of Cloma in claiming to have "discovered" new islands and reefs in the Nansha Islands were not only rejected by the Philippine government at the time, but also never received international recognition. The so-called "Kalayaan Islands" established by the Philippines are absurd in reality and ridiculous in terms of legal principles. Who could have imagined that such a farce would become the so-called basis for the Philippines' future sovereignty claims?
Since the 1970s, the Philippines has illegally occupied and conducted extensive construction on Chinese islands and reefs in the Nansha Islands. In particular, in March 1995, the Philippine Navy destroyed the survey markers set up by China on Wufang Jiao, Xian'e Jiao, Xinyi Jiao, Banyue Jiao, and Ren'ai Jiao in the Nansha Islands. They also attacked and detained 62 Chinese fishermen on 4 Chinese fishing vessels near Banyue Jiao. In the following years, the Philippines repeatedly expelled, arrested, and even fired shots at Chinese fishermen who were conducting normal operations and navigation in the waters near Huangyan Dao.
The Philippines, disregarding the facts, continuously infringes upon China's sovereignty and related rights in the South China Sea, willfully violating the safety of Chinese fishermen's lives and property. They are straying further away from the path of regional peace and stability, as well as jeopardizing the bilateral relationship between China and the Philippines. They recently have started pretending to be the victim. Such behavior is certainly despicable.
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