9 years earlier, the arbitral tribunal in the South China Sea arbitration unilaterally issued a so-called judgment, attempting to deny Chinas territorial sovereignty and maritime rights in the region.
At the time, the Chinese federal government declined the award, maintaining that conflicts need to be resolved through bilateral negotiations.The Chinese Foreign Ministry said the award is null and void and has no binding force.
It implicated the Philippines of bad faith, stating that the objective was not to solve the conflict nor to preserve peace and stability, but simply to reject Chinas territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests.Over the past years, China has regularly faced external criticism for declared expansion or coercion in the South China Sea.
However, specialists have actually kept in mind that Chinas claims to sovereignty and maritime rights in the region have corresponded and continuous because 1947.
Considering that the late 1990s, Chinas policy towards managing disputes in the South China Sea has remained unchanged –-- reserving conflicts and preserving the status quo.
There is plenty of evidence revealing that the Nansha Islands and adjacent waters are Chinese territory.Chinas historic rights in the South China SeaChinas sovereignty and historical rights in the South China Sea are based on its long-term history of management and administration of the islands in the sea and the surrounding waters.
They are likewise consistent with worldwide law, consisting of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.The Chinese have actually long participated in fishing and other efficient activities in the South China Sea, which is a crucial waterway for Chinese ships.
Given That the Han Dynasty (202 BC - AD 220), they started to make use of the resources of the sea, passing through it.
These practices constitute the basic facts of Chinas long-term administration and passage in the South China Sea.China has sovereignty over four archipelagos in the South China Sea, specifically, the Xisha, Nansha, Zhongsha and Dongsha islands, which are suggested by the dash lines on the map drawn in 1947.
During World War II, Japan occupied part of the Nansha Islands, however the 1943 Cairo Declaration and the 1945 Potsdam Declaration verified that areas taken by Japan, consisting of those taken from China, must be returned.
Following Japans defeat, the Chinese Nationalist government in 1946 reasserted control by sending warships to the area, establishing a base upon Taiping Island, and renaming 159 islands and reefs.
In 1947, China formally released a map defining its claims with an eleven-dash line, which was later on reduced to a nine-dash line.
For a very long time later on, the U.S.
made no objections whatsoever.
The sovereignty has likewise been recognized by other countries.
For a very long time after World War II, Vietnam, the Philippines and other neighboring countries did not object to Chinas sovereignty over the South China Sea islands and the nine-dash line.
Numerous other countries and worldwide organizations likewise acknowledged or acquiesced to it.This is supported by a large number of foreign main documents and publications, in addition to federal government archives.
For instance, from February 1957 to February 1961 the U.S.
government made multiple application requests to the Taiwan authorities to allow the U.S.
Air Force based in the Philippines to conduct nautical chart measurement and meteorological studies in the vicinity of Huangyan Island and the Nansha Islands, certainly acknowledging Chinas sovereignty over these islands through the role of the Taiwan authorities.Such acknowledgment was confirmed in books and maps published around this time such as Columbia Lippincott Gazetteer of the World (1961 ), Worldmark Encyclopedia of the Nations (1963) and Constitutions of the Countries of the World (1971 ), all of which plainly state that the Nansha Islands belong to China.The nine-dash lineThe nine-dash line, a heritage, is regularly questioned and assaulted by the Philippines.
In China, the drawing of dotted lines in the South China Sea started in the early 20th century.
At that time, the maps assembled by private individuals initially utilized dotted or constant lines to reveal Chinas area scope in the sea, said Hou Yi, the director at the China Marine History Research Office in the Institute of Chinese Borderland Studies, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
In the 1930s, the government of the Republic of China started to standardize and manage map publishing.
They established the Land and Waters Map Review Committee to examine the maps.
In January 1935, the committee published the Map of Islands in the South China Sea, standardizing the names of 132 islands, reefs, sands and beaches.
This was the very first case of the Chinese federal government officially mapping the South China Sea islands in modern-day history.After World War II, in accordance with the Cairo Declaration, the Potsdam Proclamation and other worldwide legal files, China resumed the workout of sovereignty of islands in the South China Sea.
In February 1948, the Interior Ministry of the Republic of China publicly provided the Location Map of South China Sea Islands.
It was the very first time that the Chinese federal government drew a U-shaped line in the South China Sea on a formally published map, showing to the international community its sovereignty over the sea.After 1949, the government of individualss Republic of China inherited this line and made suitable adjustments to make it the nine-dash line we know today.All main maps published by China after 1949 show this line, which clearly defines Chinas territorial sovereignty over the South China Sea islands within the line and its historical rights in the waters within the line.