query: what is the basis of china in claiming spratly islands

pos: Spratly Islands dispute amidst speculation it is planning to further develop its military presence in the area. In 2015 satellite imagery revealed that China was rapidly constructing an airfield on Fiery Cross Reef within the Spratlys whilst continuing its land reclamation activities at other sites. Only China (PRC), Taiwan (ROC), and Vietnam have made claims based on historical sovereignty of the islands. The Philippines, however, claims part of the area as its territory under UNCLOS, an agreement parts of which have been ratified by the countries involved in the Spratly islands dispute. There are multiple reasons why the neighbouring nations in particular, and

neg: Philippines and the Spratly Islands China Sea" was signed in an effort to ease tensions between the claimants. It has been described as stipulating "that all nations claiming sovereignty over the Spratly Islands shall commit to the status quo and shall not erect any new structure in the disputed regions of Spratly, Paracel (Xisha) and Huangyan Islands." The actual language of the declaration, however, mentions neither "status quo" nor the erection of structures. The Joint Marine Seismic Undertaking (JMSU) is a tripartite agreement between the Philippines, China and Vietnam to conduct seismic exploration in an area spanning 142,886 square kilometers west of Palawan, all of

neg: Philippines and the Spratly Islands the waters or resources, hence there was "no legal basis for China to claim historic rights" over the nine-dash line. Accordingly, the PCA tribunal decision is ruled as final and non-appealable by either countries. The tribunal also criticized China's land reclamation projects and its construction of artificial islands in the Spratly Islands, saying that it had caused "severe harm to the coral reef environment". It also characterized Taiping Island and other features of the Spratly Islands as "rocks" under UNCLOS, and therefore are not entitled to a 200 nautical mile exclusive economic zone. China however rejected the ruling, calling it

neg: Spratly Islands award that there was no evidence that China had historically exercised exclusive control over the waters or resources, hence there was "no legal basis for China to claim historic rights" over the nine-dash line. Accordingly, the PCA tribunal decision is ruled as final and non-appealable by either countries. The tribunal also criticized China's land reclamation projects and its construction of artificial islands in the Spratly Islands, saying that it had caused "severe harm to the coral reef environment". It also characterized Taiping Island and other features of the Spratly Islands as "rocks" under UNCLOS, and therefore are not entitled to

neg: Spratly Islands had not been removed, and Filipino marines have been stationed aboard since the grounding. Taiwan and mainland China are largely strategically aligned on the Spratly islands issue, since they both claim exactly the same area, so Taiwan's control of Itu Aba (Taiping) island is viewed as an extension of China's claim. Taiwan and China both claim the entire island chain, while all the other claimants only claim portions of them. China has proposed co-operation with Taiwan against all the other countries claiming the islands. Taiwanese lawmakers have demanded that Taiwan fortify Itu Aba (Taiping) island with weapons to defend against

neg: Trường Sa District Trường Sa District Trường Sa is an island district of Khánh Hòa Province in the South Central Coast region of Vietnam. It was established on the basis of the Spratly Islands, which is also claimed wholly or in part by Brunei, China, Malaysia, the Philippines and Taiwan. According to the 2009 census, the district has a population of 195 people. Trường Sa District was established on the basis of small coral islands/cays, reefs and banks of the Spratly Islands which are south east of Cam Ranh. As the islands contain a large number of scattered geographic entities, the district is

neg: South China Sea initiated arbitration proceedings against China's claim on the territories within the "Nine-Dash Line" that includes the Spratly Islands, which it said is unlawful under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). On July 12, 2016, the arbitral tribunal backed the Philippines, saying that there was no evidence that China had historically exercised exclusive control over the waters or resources, hence there was "no legal basis for China to claim historic rights" over the nine-dash line. The tribunal also criticized China's land reclamation projects and its construction of artificial islands in the Spratly Islands, saying that it

neg: Spratly Islands dispute New York Times editorial board published an article siding with the Philippines against China in the South China Sea dispute and supporting the Philippines actions against China. The New York Times editorial board endorsed aggressive American military action against China in the South China Sea. Spratly Islands dispute The Spratly Islands dispute is an ongoing territorial dispute between China, Taiwan, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam, concerning "ownership" of the Spratly Islands, a group of islands and associated "maritime features" (reefs, banks, cays, etc.) located in the South China Sea. The dispute is characterised by diplomatic stalemate and the employment of

neg: Philippines and the Spratly Islands Philippines and the Spratly Islands Philippines and the Spratly Islands – this article discusses the policies, activities and history of the Republic of the Philippines in the Spratly Islands from the Philippine perspective. Non-Filipino viewpoints regarding Philippine occupation of several islands are currently not included in this article. This article often uses the Philippine names of the maritime features, rather than the international names. The Philippines, along with Vietnam, the People's Republic of China (PRC), the Republic of China (ROC), Malaysia and Brunei, is a claimant country in the disputed Spratly Islands of the South China Sea. Currently the Philippines

neg: Luconia Shoals Luconia Shoals The Luconia Shoals, divided into the North and South Luconia Shoals, and sometimes known as the Luconia Reefs, are one of the largest and least-known reef complexes in the South China Sea. Some geographers classify the shoals as the southernmost part of the Spratly Islands. The shoals lie around off the Sarawak coast of Borneo, inside the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of Malaysia, and around from Mainland China. The shoals are either part of the Spratly Islands, or southeast of what some sources consider to be the southernmost members of the Spratly Islands, such as Louisa Reef. Extending

neg: Spratly Island Spratly Island Spratly Island (; ), also known as Storm Island, with a natural area of , is the fourth largest of the naturally occurring Spratly Islands in the South China Sea, and the largest of the Vietnamese-administered Spratly islands. It is also claimed by China and Taiwan. In 2016 the Vietnamese embarked on a land reclamation program at ten locations in the Spratly Islands. At Spratly Island 37 acres have been reclaimed, which has allowed for the addition of a harbour and the doubling of the length of the island's runway to a length of about . Spratly island

neg: Philippines and the Spratly Islands goods and being adjacent to China itself, the ASEAN bloc is capable of crippling the Chinese economy, both through product boycotts and the possibility of peace instability. Even non-Spratly claiming ASEAN nations—Singapore, Indonesia, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand and Myanmar—are more supportive to the Vietnamese, Philippine, Malaysian and Bruneian claims than the Chinese claim. However, China today is beginning to engage itself in joint efforts to exploit the area. In particular, China, the Philippines, and Vietnam are already working on their second phase of drawing a joint exploitation plan. In November 2002 the "Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South

neg: Spratly Island There is a 5.5 m-high obelisk at the southern tip. Spratly Island Spratly Island (; ), also known as Storm Island, with a natural area of , is the fourth largest of the naturally occurring Spratly Islands in the South China Sea, and the largest of the Vietnamese-administered Spratly islands. It is also claimed by China and Taiwan. In 2016 the Vietnamese embarked on a land reclamation program at ten locations in the Spratly Islands. At Spratly Island 37 acres have been reclaimed, which has allowed for the addition of a harbour and the doubling of the length of the

neg: Hai Yang Shi You 981 standoff Islands have been a subject of territorial dispute between China, Taiwan and Vietnam in the 20 century. In 1974, China and the US-backed South Vietnam fought the Battle of the Paracel Islands in which China took over the entire archipelago. South Vietnam never relinquished its claims, while Chinese and Soviet-backed North Vietnam (which did not administer the islands) supported the 1958 Declaration by China claiming all of the Paracel Islands, Spratly Islands, Macclesfield Bank and Pratas Islands. However, when North Vietnam reunited the country following the Vietnam War it repeated the former South Vietnamese claims. China claims the sea and

neg: People's Liberation Army Navy the second largest destroyer class in the world after the American Zumwalt-class destroyer. The Spratly Islands dispute is a territorial dispute over the ownership of the Spratly Islands, a group of islands located in the South China Sea. States staking claims to various islands are Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, Vietnam, and People's Republic of China. All except Brunei occupy some of the islands in dispute. The People's Republic of China conducted naval patrols in the Spratly Islands and established a permanent base. On 14 March 1988, Chinese and Vietnamese naval forces clashed over Johnson South Reef in the Spratly

neg: Malaysia–Vietnam border Spratly group. Both Malaysia and Vietnam are two of several countries asserting claims over the islands and waters of the area. Because of the uncertainty, no maritime border agreement exists for the area. Malaysia claims a portion of the South China Sea together with 11 islands and other marine features in the Spratly group on the basis that they are within its continental shelf. Brunei, China, the Philippines and Vietnam also have overlapping claims over the entire or a portion of the area claimed by Malaysia. Malaysia currently occupies one island - Swallow Reef or Pulau Layang-Layang - five reefs

neg: Spratly Islands dispute 1978, President Ferdinand Marcos of the Philippines issued Presidential decree No. 1596, declaring the Spratly Islands (referred to therein as the Kalayaan Island Group) as Philippine territory. The Philippine claim to Kalayaan on a geographical basis can be summarised using the assertion that Kalayaan is distinct from other island groups in the South China Sea, because of the size of the biggest island in the Kalayaan group. A second argument used by the Philippines regarding their geographical claim over the Spratlys is that all the islands claimed by the Philippines lie within its 200-mile Exclusive Economic Zone according to the

neg: Spratly Islands the Republic of China, claimed the Spratly and Paracel islands under the jurisdiction of Hainan. In 1933, France asserted its claims to the Spratly and Paracel Islands on behalf of its then-colony Vietnam. It occupied a number of the Spratly Islands, including Taiping Island, built weather stations on two of the islands, and administered them as part of French Indochina. This occupation was protested by the Republic of China (ROC) government because France admitted finding Chinese fishermen there when French warships visited nine of the islands. In 1935, the ROC government also announced a sovereignty claim on the Spratly Islands.

neg: Spratly Islands dispute Spratly Islands dispute The Spratly Islands dispute is an ongoing territorial dispute between China, Taiwan, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam, concerning "ownership" of the Spratly Islands, a group of islands and associated "maritime features" (reefs, banks, cays, etc.) located in the South China Sea. The dispute is characterised by diplomatic stalemate and the employment of military pressure techniques (such as military occupation of disputed territory) in the advancement of national territorial claims. All except Brunei occupy some of the maritime features. There has been a sharp rise in media coverage owing mainly to China's increasingly vocal objection to the presence

neg: Spratly Islands Spratly Islands The Spratly Islands ( , , , ) are a disputed group of islands, islets and cays and more than 100 reefs, sometimes grouped in submerged old atolls, in the South China Sea. The archipelago lies off the coasts of the Philippines, Malaysia, and southern Vietnam. Named after the 19th-century British whaling captain Richard Spratly who sighted Spratly Island in 1843, the islands contain less than of naturally occurring land area spread over an area of more than . The Spratlys are one of the major archipelagos in the South China Sea which complicate governance and economics in

neg: Spratly Islands dispute map showing the U shaped claim on the entire South China Sea, showing the Spratly and Paracels in Chinese territory. In 1947, the ROC government renamed 159 islands in the area and published the "Map of the South China Sea Islands". The ROC was the first government to establish a physical presence in the Spratly Islands. It has occupied Taiping Island, the largest island in the Spratlys, constantly since 1956. The Republic of China (ROC), which ruled mainland China before 1949, has been confined to Taiwan since 1949. The People's Liberation Army and the Republic of China Armed Forces are

neg: Spratly Islands dispute the tribunal what country has sovereignty over an island, or rock above water at high tide, in the West Philippine Sea." According to a PCA press release on 12 July 2016 "[The] Tribunal concluded that, as between the Philippines and China, there was no legal basis for China to claim historic rights to resources, in excess of the rights provided for by the Convention, within the sea areas falling within the ‘nine-dash line’". On 22 July 1992, ASEAN issued a declaration on the South China Sea, emphasising that the dispute should be solved peacefully without resorting to violence. Following a

neg: Foreign relations of Taiwan of such international organizations with the name by which Taiwan is known in each: ROC is a party to major international treaties, including: ROC claims islands in the South China Sea on the same basis as its claim to historical Chinese territory. Unlike its claims on the Asian mainland, however, ROC actively pursues and defends some of its claims to these islands. These include all of the Spratly Islands, the Paracel Islands, Macclesfield Bank and Scarborough Shoal. These islands are administered by a number of governments around the South China Sea. ROC also claims the Senkaku Islands, which are administered

neg: Foreign relations of the Philippines map dated as early as 1279 is the basis for the claim of the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China. They argue that the area was historically used by their fishermen. The Spratly Islands are a group of islands, reefs, and rocks located about 300 kilometers West of Aborlan, Palawan. The Philippines, along with the People's Republic of China, the Republic of China, Malaysia, Vietnam, and Brunei expressed claims. The Philippines officially staked a claim to some of the islands during the United Nations convention, although it was first expressed in 1956, when Tomás Cloma, a Philippine

neg: Spratly Islands the Spratly Islands (including Taiping Island) after accepting the Japanese surrender of the islands based on the Cairo and Potsdam Declarations. The Republic of China then garrisoned Itu Aba (Taiping) island in 1946 and posted Chinese flags. The aim of the Republic of China was to block the French claims. The Republic of China drew up the map showing the U-shaped claim on the entire South China Sea, showing the Spratly and Paracels in Chinese territory, in 1947. Japan had renounced all claims to the islands in the 1951 San Francisco Peace Treaty together with the Paracels, Pratas and other

neg: Spratly Islands dispute and the Philippines, in a statement on 13 July 1999 released by the foreign ministry of Taiwan. Taiwan and China's claims "mirror" each other; during international talks involving the Spratly islands, China and Taiwan have cooperated with each other since both have the same claims. Taiwan and China are largely strategically aligned on the Spratly islands issue, since they both claim exactly the same area, so Taiwan's control of Itu Aba (Taiping) island is viewed as an extension of China's claim. Taiwan and China both claim the entire island chain, while all the other claimants only claim portions of them.

neg: Foreign relations of Vietnam Vietnam and its neighbors, especially in the case of China since both nations assert claims to the Spratly Islands, an archipelago in a potentially oil-rich area of the South China Sea. Conflicting claims have produced over the years small scale armed altercations in the area. In 1988, more than 70 Vietnamese troops were killed during a confrontation with Chinese forces, when China occupied several islands under Vietnamese control in the Spratly Islands. China's assertion of control over the Spratly Islands and the entire South China Sea has elicited concern from Vietnam and its Southeast Asia neighbors. The territorial border between

neg: Spratly Islands dispute is said to be satisfied as when Japan renounced their sovereignty over the islands according to the San Francisco Treaty, there was a relinquishment of the right to the islands without any special beneficiary. Therefore, the islands became res nullius and available for annexation. The People's Republic of China (PRC) claims all of the Spratly Islands as part of China based on history and not UNCLOS. The People's Republic of China (PRC) is a party to the UNCLOS, signing the agreement on 29 July 1994. The Republic of China (ROC), which ruled mainland China before 1949 and has been confined

neg: Spratly Islands found that Chinese fishermen from Hainan annually sojourned on the Spratly islands for part of the year, while in 1877 it was the British who launched the first modern legal claims to the Spratlys. When the Spratlys and Paracels were surveyed by Germany in 1883, China issued protests against them. The 1887 Chinese-Vietnamese Boundary convention signed between France and China after the Sino-French War said that China was the owner of the Spratly and Paracel islands. China sent naval forces on inspection tours in 1902 and 1907 and placed flags and markers on the islands. The Qing dynasty's successor state,

neg: Spratly Islands Philippines, and pointed out that the Spratly islands were not part of the Philippines when the US acquired the Philippines from Spain in the Treaty of Paris in 1898, and the Japanese ruled Taiwan itself had annexed the Spratly islands in 1938 and the US ruled Philippines did not challenge the move and never asserted that it was their territory, he also pointed out that other countries did not need to do full land reclamation since they already control islands and that the reason China engaged in extensive land reclamation is because they needed it to build airfields since China

neg: Spratly Islands deployment over the islands took nearly one year. Spratly Islands The Spratly Islands ( , , , ) are a disputed group of islands, islets and cays and more than 100 reefs, sometimes grouped in submerged old atolls, in the South China Sea. The archipelago lies off the coasts of the Philippines, Malaysia, and southern Vietnam. Named after the 19th-century British whaling captain Richard Spratly who sighted Spratly Island in 1843, the islands contain less than of naturally occurring land area spread over an area of more than . The Spratlys are one of the major archipelagos in the South

neg: South China Sea Islands surrendering Japanese, according to international treaties made by the Allied Nations. In 1947, the Ministry of Interior of China renamed 149 of the islands. Later, in November 1947, the Secretaritat of Guangdong Government of China was authorised to publish the "Map of the South China Sea Islands". The Japanese and the French renounced their claims as soon as their respective occupations or colonisations ended. In 1958, the People's Republic of China (PRC) issued a declaration defining its territorial waters within what is known as the nine-dotted line which encompassed the Spratly Islands. North Vietnam's prime minister, Phạm Văn Đồng, sent

neg: Spratly Islands Thitu Island). A number of maps of the South China Sea were later produced, but the first map that gives a reasonably accurate delineation of the Spratly Islands region (titled "[South] China Sea, Sheet 1") was only published in 1821 by the hydrographer of the East India Company James Horsburgh after a survey by Captain Daniel Ross. A later 1859 edition of the map named the Spratly Island as Storm Island. The islands were sporadically visited throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries by mariners from different European powers (including Richard Spratly, after whom the island group derives its most

neg: Philippines and the Spratly Islands South China Sea. Some of these enter internal Philippine waters like the Sulu Sea, and not just disputed waters in the Spratly islands. The Philippines, in general, is tolerant in allowing Chinese vessels to fish in disputed areas including Scarborough Shoal and waters in the vicinity of Philippine-occupied Spratly islands. They are, however, arrested if the Philippine Navy or Coast Guard determines that they are doing illegal fishing activity (i.e., using dynamites, or cyanide poison). The Philippines is less tolerant in waters east of the 116°E meridian, the Sulu Sea and the waters between Philippine islands (non-Spratly). Within these areas

neg: Spratly Islands dispute China has proposed co-operation with Taiwan against all the other countries claiming the islands. Taiwanese lawmakers have demanded that Taiwan fortify Itu Aba (Taiping) island with weapons to defend against the Vietnamese, and both China and Taiwanese NGOs have pressured Taiwan to expand Taiwan's military capabilities on the island, which played a role in Taiwan expanding the island's runway in 2012. China has urged Taiwan to co-operate and offered Taiwan a share in oil and gas resources while shutting out all the other rival claimants. Taiwanese lawmakers have complained about repeated Vietnamese aggression and trespassing on Taiwan's Itu Aba (Taiping),

neg: Johnson South Reef Skirmish Johnson South Reef Skirmish The Johnson South Reef Skirmish (; , lit: "Spratly Islands naval battle", or , lit: "Johnson South Reef naval battle") was an altercation that took place on 14 March 1988 between Chinese and Vietnamese forces over who would annex the Johnson South Reef in the Union Banks region of the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea. The 14th UNESCO Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) agreed that China would establish five observation posts for worldwide ocean survey, including one in the Spratly Islands, and they commissioned China to build an observation post there in March 1987. The

neg: Spratly Islands Mabini reef in Philippines). Under President Lee Teng-hui, Taiwan stated that "legally, historically, geographically, or in reality", all of the South China Sea and Spratly islands were Taiwan's territory and under Taiwanese sovereignty, and denounced actions undertaken there by Malaysia and the Philippines, in a statement on 13 July 1999 released by the foreign ministry of Taiwan. Taiwan and China's claims "mirror" each other; during international talks involving the Spratly islands, China and Taiwan have cooperated with each other since both have the same claims. It was unclear whether France continued its claim to the islands after World War II,

neg: Dangerous Ground (South China Sea) "Sailing Directions" pp13–15. Other parts of the Spratly Islands which are not inside Dangerous Ground include: The sovereignty of many of the islands is disputed, as are economic claims. Dangerous Ground (South China Sea) Dangerous Ground is a large area in the southeast part of the South China Sea characterized by many low islands and cays, sunken reefs, and atolls awash, with reefs often rising abruptly from ocean depths greater than 1000m. There are few precise definitions, but Dangerous Ground corresponds roughly to the seas around the eastern half of the Spratly Islands. It is an oblong area running southwest

neg: Spratly Islands dispute South Vietnamese sovereignty over the archipelago. Up to the end of the Vietnam War the Republic of Vietnam Navy held military control over the majority of the Spratly Islands until 1975, when North Vietnamese troops attacked South Vietnamese troops and occupied the islands. After the Vietnam War, the unified Vietnam SRV (Socialist Republic of Vietnam) continued to claim the Spratly islands as an indisputably integral part of Vietnam. China has produced a letter written by North Vietnam's former Prime Minister Phạm Văn Đồng in 1958 as proof that it holds sovereignty over the Paracel and Spratly islands. The Vietnamese newspaper

neg: Macclesfield Bank Macclesfield Bank Macclesfield Bank is an elongated sunken atoll of underwater reefs and shoals in the South China Sea. It lies east of the Paracel Islands, southwest of the Pratas Islands and north of the Spratly Islands. Its length exceeds southwest-northeast, with a maximal width of more than . With an ocean area of within the outer rim of the reef, although completely submerged without any emergent cays or islets, it is one of the largest atolls of the world. The Macclesfield Bank is part of what China calls the Zhongsha Islands, which includes a number of geographically separate submarine

neg: Spratly Islands a 200 nautical mile exclusive economic zone. China however rejected the ruling, calling it "ill-founded". Taiwan, which currently administers Taiping Island, the largest of the Spratly Islands, also rejected the ruling. In 2005, a cellular phone base station was erected by the Philippines' Smart Communications on Pag-asa Island. On 18 May 2011, China Mobile announced that its mobile phone coverage has expanded to the Spratly Islands. The extended coverage would allow soldiers stationed on the islands, fishermen, and merchant vessels within the area to use mobile services, and can also provide assistance during storms and sea rescues. The service network

neg: Spratly Islands an oceanic observation station and install a tide gauge for the Global Sea Level Observing System. After a deadly skirmish with the Vietnamese Navy, China installed some military structures on more reefs in the vicinity of the Philippines and Vietnamese occupied islands and this led to escalating tensions between these countries and China over the status and "ownership" of reefs. The islands and cays, listed in descending order of naturally occurring area, are: The total area of archipelago's naturally occurring islands is and with reclaimed land. The Spratly Islands consist of islands, reefs, banks and shoals that consist of biogenic

neg: Ladd Reef the lighthouse consists of quarters for a handful of Vietnamese soldiers and the lighthouse keeper. In 1945, towards the end of the Second World War, a Dutch submarine (HNLMS O-19) ran aground on Ladd Reef. Ladd Reef Ladd Reef (; ) is a Vietnam-controlled reef in the Spratly group of islands, South China Sea. China and Taiwan are also claimants of the reef. Like Spratly Island, Ladd Reef lies to the west of the Philippines-defined "Kalayaan Islands" claim area. The English name "Ladd Reef" was coined by Richard Spratly in late March 1843, after Captain Ladd of the ship "Austen",

neg: Dallas Reef the People's Republic of China, the Republic of China (Taiwan) and Vietnam. Dallas Reef Dallas Reef (), also known as "Guangxing Jiao" and "Nan Chiao" () in China, "Terumbu Laya" in Malaysia, "đá Suối Cát" in Vietnam and "Rajah Matanda" in the Philippines, lies on the SW extremity of Dangerous Ground (South China Sea) in the Spratly Islands of the South China Sea. It is approximately 7km long and 2km wide, and encloses a lagoon ~15m deep. It is 9km west of Ardasier Reef, and 26km north of Swallow Reef. As with all of the Spratly Islands, the ownership of

neg: Ladd Reef Ladd Reef Ladd Reef (; ) is a Vietnam-controlled reef in the Spratly group of islands, South China Sea. China and Taiwan are also claimants of the reef. Like Spratly Island, Ladd Reef lies to the west of the Philippines-defined "Kalayaan Islands" claim area. The English name "Ladd Reef" was coined by Richard Spratly in late March 1843, after Captain Ladd of the ship "Austen", who seemed to be the first to have seen the reef. The Chinese name "Rìjī Jiāo" was coined in 1947 to replace the 1935 name "Lādé Jiāo" (拉德礁), which was transliterated from the English name

neg: Nine-Dash Line of China has continued its claims, and the Nine-Dash Line remains as the rationale for Taiwan's claims to the Spratly and Paracel Islands.Under President Lee Teng-hui, Republic of China (R.O.C) stated that "legally, historically, geographically, or in reality", all of the South China Sea and Spratly islands were R.O.C's territory and under R.O.C sovereignty, and denounced actions undertaken there by Malaysia and the Philippines, in a statement on 13 July 1999 released by the foreign ministry of Taiwan. Taiwan and China's claims mirror each other. During international talks involving the Spratly islands, P.R.C and R.O.C have cooperated with each other

neg: Flat Island (South China Sea) Flat Island (South China Sea) Flat Island (; ; ) is the second smallest of the natural Spratly Islands. It has an area of (5,700 sq. m), and is about north of Philippine-occupied Nanshan Island, both of which are located on the expansive but otherwise submerged Flat Isand Bank in the NE of Dangerous Ground. It is the sixth largest of the Philippine-occupied Spratly islands, and is administered by the Philippines as part of Kalayaan, Palawan. The island is also claimed by the People's Republic of China, the Republic of China (Taiwan), and Vietnam. The island is a low, flat,

neg: Philippines and the Spratly Islands and Malaysia are limited to particular regions in the area, making these two countries incapable of contesting exploitation rights in other regions. In his essay contributed for TIME Asia in 1999, Professor Alex Magno of University of the Philippines pointed out that China is the main aggressor in the Spratly dispute. Magno, in particular, called on ASEAN to be watchful of China's actions in the South China Sea (Magno said it is very unlucky for ASEAN that the sea where the Spratly group lies is named South China Sea, named after China). Being one of the major consumers of Chinese

neg: South China Sea had caused "severe harm to the coral reef environment". It also characterized Taiping Island and other features of the Spratly Islands as "rocks" under UNCLOS, and therefore are not entitled to a 200 nautical mile exclusive economic zone. China however rejected the ruling, calling it "ill-founded". Taiwan, which currently administers Taiping Island, the largest of the Spratly Islands, also rejected the ruling. South China Sea The South China Sea is a marginal sea that is part of the Pacific Ocean, encompassing an area from the Karimata and Malacca Straits to the Strait of Taiwan of around . The sea carries

neg: Spratly Islands islands captured from the Chinese, and upon these declarations, the government of the Republic of China reasserted its claim to the islands. The Chinese Kuomintang force withdrew from most of the Spratly and Paracel Islands after they retreated to Taiwan from the opposing Communist Party of China due to their losses in the Chinese Civil War and the founding of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in 1949. Taiwan quietly withdrew troops from Taiping Island in 1950, but then reinstated them in 1956 in response to Tomás Cloma's sudden claim to the island as part of Freedomland. , Taiping Island

neg: China–Philippines relations for China to claim historic rights" over the nine-dash line. Accordingly, the PCA tribunal decision is ruled as final and non-appealable by either countries. The tribunal also criticized China's land reclamation projects and its construction of artificial islands in the Spratly Islands, saying that it had caused "severe harm to the coral reef environment". It also characterized Taiping Island and other features of the Spratly Islands as "rocks" under UNCLOS, and therefore are not entitled to a 200 nautical mile exclusive economic zone. China however rejected the ruling, calling it "ill-founded". Taiwan, which currently administers Taiping Island, the largest of

neg: Dallas Reef Dallas Reef Dallas Reef (), also known as "Guangxing Jiao" and "Nan Chiao" () in China, "Terumbu Laya" in Malaysia, "đá Suối Cát" in Vietnam and "Rajah Matanda" in the Philippines, lies on the SW extremity of Dangerous Ground (South China Sea) in the Spratly Islands of the South China Sea. It is approximately 7km long and 2km wide, and encloses a lagoon ~15m deep. It is 9km west of Ardasier Reef, and 26km north of Swallow Reef. As with all of the Spratly Islands, the ownership of the atoll is disputed. It is controlled by Malaysia, and claimed by

neg: Spratly Islands dispute it the most significant change to the South China Sea dispute since the 1988 Johnson South Reef Skirmish. If completed as envisioned in the CGI designs, China will have its first airstrip in the Spratly islands – and a base from which to impose its interpretation of the surrounding features' sovereignty'. Janes also noted that in contrast to the previous construction projections of other countries in the Spratlys, 'The main difference between these activities and China's is that they modified existing land masses, while Beijing is constructing islands out of reefs that for the most part were under water at

neg: Sand Cay Sand Cay Sand Cay , also known as Son Ca Island (; ; ) is a cay on the north edge of the Tizard Bank of the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea. With an area of , it is the ninth largest, and the fourth largest former Vietnamese-administered, of the Spratly Islands. The island has been occupied by Vietnam since 1974, (first by South Vietnam, then by the Socialist Republic of Vietnam after 1975) until the late 20th century. It was afterwards occupied by the Philippines, then China. It is also claimed by China, the Philippines, Vietnam, and

neg: Spratly Islands dispute numerous clashes between the PRC and the Philippines, PRC and Vietnam, and between other nations over "foreign" fishing vessels in Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs), and the media regularly report the arrest of Chinese fishermen. In 1984, Brunei established an exclusive fishing zone encompassing Louisa Reef in the southeastern Spratly Islands. The region is one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world. During the 1980s, at least 270 ships passed through the Spratly Islands region each day. More than half of the world's supertanker traffic, by tonnage, passes through the region's waters every year. Tanker traffic through the South China

neg: Paracel Islands to Paracel as "Qizhouyang" ("Shitang" became Spratly, and "Changsha" became Zhongsha), while a book "Hai Lu" (Illustrations of the Sea) refers to Paracel as "Changsha" and Spratly as "Shitang". A sea chart prepared in the Daoguang era, "Yiban Lu" (Particular Illustrations) by Zheng Guangzu, uses Xisha to refer to Paracel. Xisha became the standard name used in China in the 20th century, and was used in 20th century maps published by the Republic of China, for example in 1935, and the 1947 11-dash line map which claimed Paracel and Spratly as its territories. The Vietnamese call the islands Hoang Sa,

neg: Spratly Islands the islands in the 18th century. Despite the fact that China and Vietnam both made a claim to these territories simultaneously, at the time, neither side was aware that its neighbour had already charted and made claims to the same stretch of islands. An early European map, "A correct chart of the China Seas" of 1758 by William Herbert, left the Spratly Islands region (known then as the Dangerous Ground) as largely blank, indicating that region has yet to be properly surveyed, although some islands and shoals at its western edge were marked (one appears at the same place as

neg: Fiery Cross Reef build weather stations in the South China sea as part of the Global Sea Level Observing System (GLOSS) survey. The scientists from GLOSS agreed that China would install tide gauges on what the PRC considered to be its coasts in the East China Sea and on the ""Nansha islands"" in South China Sea. The scientists were unaware of regional political disputes, including Taiwanese territorial claims to, and occupation of, one of the Spratly Islands. In April 1987, the PRC chose Fiery Cross Reef as the site to build a weather station, as the reef was large enough for the purpose,

neg: Spratly Islands dispute was the British who launched the first modern legal claims to the Spratlys. When the Spratlys and Paracels were being surveyed by Germany in 1883, China issued protests against them. China sent naval forces on inspection tours in 1902 and 1907 and placed flags and markers on the islands. The Qing dynasty's successor state, the Republic of China, claimed the Spratly and Paracel islands under the jurisdiction of Hainan. The Spratlys and the Paracels were conquered from France by Japan in 1939. Japan administered the Spratlys via Taiwan's jurisdiction and the Paracels via Hainan's jurisdiction. The Paracels and Spratlys were

neg: Scarborough Shoal reclamation projects and its construction of artificial islands in the Spratly Islands, saying that it had caused "severe harm to the coral reef environment". It also characterized Taiping Island and other features of the Spratly Islands as "rocks" under UNCLOS, and therefore are not entitled to a 200 nautical mile exclusive economic zone. China however rejected the ruling, calling it "ill-founded". Taiwan, which currently administers Taiping Island, the largest of the Spratly Islands, also rejected the ruling. In late 2016, following meetings between the Philippine president Duterte and his PRC counterparts, the PRC 'verbally' allowed Filipino fishermen to access the

neg: General debate of the seventieth session of the United Nations General Assembly to the climate with perseverance and will continue to do what we can for peace to prevail and develop." Turkey briefly responded to Syria in saying that the delegate will "not take [too much] time but that Turkey would continue to stand by the people of Syria" amidst the Syrian civil war. China responded to the Philippines in saying that its "claim to the sovereignty of the Spratly Islands is based on historical foundation. The illegal occupation of some islands by the Philippines is the root cause of disputes between China and the Philippines...Without the consent of China, the Philippines

neg: China–Vietnam relations General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam, made an official visit to China at the invitation of General Secretary of the Communist Party of China Hu Jintao, with the aim of improving bilateral relations in the wake of the border disputes. However, on 21 June 2012, Vietnam passed a law entitled the "Law on the Sea", which placed both the Spratly Islands and the Paracel Islands under Vietnamese jurisdiction, prompting China to label the move as "illegal and invalid". Simultaneously, China passed a law establishing the prefecture of Sansha City, which encompassed the Xisha (Paracel), Zhongsha, and Nansha (Spratly)

neg: Malaysia–Philippines border the Philippines also have overlapping claims over the continental shelf and islands in the Spratly Islands area of the South China Sea. China/Taiwan and Vietnam also claim the entire Spratly Islands area as part of their territory and territorial waters while a small portion of the area of overlapping claim by Malaysia and the Philippines is also claimed by Brunei. Malaysia bases its claim on the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea's rule. In 1979, it published a territorial sea and continental shelf map depicting its claim over the area. The Philippines claim results in the boundary

neg: Malaysia–Vietnam border Nevertheless, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak said the two countries had reached a broad understanding as to the apportionment of the defined area. China, which is one of the claimants of the Spratly Islands and its adjacent waters, lodged a note with the UN Secretary-General on 7 May 2009 objecting to the extended continental shelf submission. The basis for the objection was that the area claimed was under Chinese sovereignty. Premier Wen Jiabao later said all countries with territorial claims in the South China Sea should strictly follow the Declaration on the Code of Conduct on the South China

neg: Spratly Islands dispute China sent naval forces on inspection tours in 1902 and 1907 and placed flags and markers on the islands. The Qing dynasty's successor state, the Republic of China, claimed the Spratly and Paracel islands under the jurisdiction of Hainan. The Spratlys and the Paracels were conquered by Japan in 1939. Japan administered the Spratlys via Taiwan's jurisdiction and the Paracels via Hainan's jurisdiction. In 1946, the Americans reminded the Philippines at its independence that the Spratlys was not Philippine territory, both to not anger Chiang Kai-shek in China and because the Spratlys were not part of the Philippines per the

neg: Philippines–Taiwan relations for China to claim historic rights" over the nine-dash line. Accordingly, the PCA tribunal decision is ruled as final and non-appealable by either countries. The tribunal also criticized China's land reclamation projects and its construction of artificial islands in the Spratly Islands, saying that it had caused "severe harm to the coral reef environment". It also characterized Taiping Island and other features of the Spratly Islands as "rocks" under UNCLOS, and therefore are not entitled to a 200 nautical mile exclusive economic zone. China however rejected the ruling, calling it "ill-founded". Taiwan, which currently administers Taiping Island, the largest of

neg: Cornwallis South Reef Cornwallis South Reef Cornwallis South Reef is a coral atoll reef in the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea. It covers an area of about 10 km by 5 km, and is entirely submerged at high tide. The reef is controlled by Vietnam, but is claimed by China as part of its claim to the entire Spratly Islands. In 2009, Vietnam, in a submission to the UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf, accepted that its continental shelf did not include Cornwallis and therefore they have no entitlement to exploit it. The reef has been subjected to

neg: Foreign policy of Donald Trump (2015-2016) such scenario unlikely: "They won't crash our currency. They will crash their economy. That's what they are going to do if they start playing that." In a May 2016 speech, Trump responded to concerns regarding a potential trade war with China: "We're losing $500 billion in trade with China. Who the hell cares if there's a trade war?" On January 23, speaking about China's claims to sovereignty over the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea, White House spokesman Sean Spicer said, "It's a question of if those islands are in fact in international waters and not part of China

neg: Johnson South Reef Skirmish its coasts in the East China Sea, and on what the PRC calls its Nansha Islands in the South China Sea. The scientists did not know that Taiwan occupied one of the Spratly Islands, but (despite its territorial claims), at that time China occupied none. After numerous surveys and patrols, in April 1987 China chose Fiery Cross Reef as the ideal (from their point of view) location for the observation post, because the unoccupied reef was remote from other settlements, and it was large enough for the observation post. On the other hand, Johnson South Reef in the Union Banks

neg: Spratly Islands 2011, the Philippines began officially referring to the South China Sea as the "West Philippine Sea" and the Reed Bank as "Recto Bank". In July 2012, the National Assembly of Vietnam passed a law demarcating Vietnamese sea borders to include the Spratly and Paracel Islands. In 2010, it was reported that the former Malaysian Prime Minister (now the current Malaysian Prime Minister) Mahathir Mohamad believed Malaysia could profit from China's economic growth through co-operation with China, and said that China "was not a threat to anyone and was not worried about aggression from China", as well accusing the United States

neg: China–Philippines relations that includes Spratly Islands, which it said is "unlawful" under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). An arbitration tribunal was constituted under Annex VII of UNCLOS and it was decided in July 2013 that the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) would function as registry and provide administrative duties in the proceedings. On 12 July 2016, the arbitrators of the tribunal of PCA agreed unanimously with the Philippines. They concluded in the award that there was no evidence that China had historically exercised exclusive control over the waters or resources, hence there was "no legal basis

neg: Philippines and the Spratly Islands of an attack from an external party. However, US does not include the Spratly Islands in its understanding of Philippine territory. Instead, the US limited itself in continuously supporting the Philippine defense programs with military and intelligence aid and training, and a variety of diplomatic measures aimed at sending a "strong message" to Beijing. Such "strong messages" and the ASEAN intervention are believed to have calmed China's previously aggressive drive in the Spratly region. China has accused the Philippines of intentionally grounding two naval vessels in the Spratly group to advance an occupation. The two ships, the BRP "Sierra Madre"

neg: Spratly Islands dispute map showing the U shaped claim on the entire South China Sea, showing the Spratly and Paracels in Chinese territory, in 1947. Taiwan's garrison from 1946–1950 and 1956-now on Itu Aba represents an "effective occupation" of the Spratly islands. Taiwan garrison forces actively fended off Philippine efforts to build on the Spratly before 1971. After the UN vote to recognize the PRC, the ROC government in Taiwan no longer was in position to defend its rights. The Philippines and Vietnam took this opportunity to establish outposts in the Spratlys. Japanese scholar Taoka Shunji criticised Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe for

neg: Second Thomas Shoal Second Thomas Shoal Second Thomas Shoal (also known as Ayungin Shoal in the Philippines, Bãi Cỏ Mây in Vietnam, and 仁爱礁 in China) is a shoal/atoll in the Spratly Islands of the South China Sea, west of Palawan, Philippines. Claimed by several nations, the shoal is currently militarily occupied by the Philippines. The shoal is one of three named after Thomas Gilbert, captain of the : Located south-east of Mischief Reef (), Second Thomas Shoal is near the centre of Dangerous Ground in the north-eastern part of the Spratly Islands; there are no settlements north or east of it. It

neg: Spratly Islands dispute as it was being supported by China. Only after winning the war and conquering South Vietnam did North Vietnam retract its recognition and admitted it recognised them as part of China to receive aid from China in fighting the Americans. The Philippines claimed the Spratlys in 1971 under President Marcos, after Taiwanese troops attacked and shot at a Philippine fishing boat on Itu Aba. Under President Lee Teng-hui, Taiwan stated that "legally, historically, geographically, or in reality", all of the South China Sea and Spratly islands were Taiwan's territory and under Taiwanese sovereignty, and denounced actions undertaken there by Malaysia

neg: Namyit Island Namyit Island Namyit Island (; ; ) is the third-largest island on Tizard Bank in the northwest of the Spratly Islands in South China Sea. With an area of , it is the twelfth-largest naturally-occurring Spratly island, and the fifth-largest among the Vietnamese-occupied islands. The island is also claimed by China, the Philippines and Taiwan. Although two South Vietnamese warships (the HQ-04 "Tuy Dong" and HQ-05 "Tay Ket") stopped at Namyit Island in 1962, South Vietnamese troops did not set up a permanent garrison on the islet until August 1973. On 6 September 1973, the Republic of Vietnam's Ministry of

neg: Spratly Islands dispute historical connection to the disputed islands in the South China Sea would expose the human rights violations and killings of ethnic minorities in Vietnam such as in the 2001 and 2004 uprisings, and lead to the issue of Cham autonomy being brought to attention. In the 19th century, Europeans found that Chinese fishermen from Hainan annually sojourned on the Spratly islands for part of the year, while in 1877 it was the British who launched the first modern legal claims to the Spratlys. When the Spratlys and Paracels were being surveyed by Germany in 1883, China issued protests against them.

neg: Spratly Islands dispute nations made full claims, and dozens more made preliminary submissions. Two of the submissions made to the CLCS addressed claims in the South China Sea (SCS) – one by Vietnam for a claim over the northern portion of the SCS (which included the Paracel Islands), and another jointly by Vietnam and Malaysia for a joint claim over a "defined area" in the middle of the SCS between the two countries, which included part of the Spratly Islands. Brunei made a preliminary submission notifying of its intention to claim a continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles from its shores. China (PRC)

neg: Spratly Islands in association the rifting and later sea-floor spreading that created the South China Sea. During the Late Oligocene-Early Miocene additional stretching and block faulting of continental crust occurred within the Spratly Islands and adjacent Dangerous Ground. During and after this period of tectonic activity, corals and other marine life colonised the crests of the horsts and other ridges that lay in shallow water. The remains of these organisms accumulated over time as biogenic carbonates that comprise the current day reefs, shoals and cays of the Spratly Islands. Starting with their formation in Late Cretaceous, fine-grained organic-rich marine sediments accumulated within

neg: Spratly Islands dispute trying to falsely portray China as a threat to Japan, and that it was invading its neighbours like the Philippines, and pointed out that the Spratly islands were not part of the Philippines when the US acquired the Philippines from Spain in the Treaty of Paris in 1898. Taoka stated that the Japanese ruled Taiwan when Taiwan had annexed the Spratly islands in 1938, and the US-ruled Philippines did not challenge the move and never asserted that it was their territory. He also pointed out that other countries did not need to do full land reclamation since they already control

neg: Spratly Islands dispute and Taiwan has started viewing Vietnam as an enemy over the Spratly Islands, not China. Taiwan's state run oil company CPC Corp's board director Chiu Yi has called Vietnam as the "greatest threat" to Taiwan. Taiwan's airstrip on Taiping has irritated Vietnam. China views Taiwan's expansion of its military and airstrip on Taiping as benefiting China's position against the other rival claimants from southeast Asian countries. China's claims to the Spratlys benefit from legal weight because of Taiwan's presence on Itu Aba, while America on the other hand has regularly ignored Taiwan's claims in the South China Sea and does

neg: Spratly Islands the Vietnamese, and both China and Taiwanese NGOs have pressured Taiwan to expand Taiwan's military capabilities on the island, which played a role in Taiwan expanding the island's runway in 2012. China has urged Taiwan to co-operate and offered Taiwan a share in oil and gas resources while shutting out all the other rival claimants. Taiwanese lawmakers have complained about repeated Vietnamese aggression and trespassing on Taiwan's Itu Aba (Taiping), and Taiwan has started viewing Vietnam as an enemy over the Spratly Islands, not China. Taiwan's state run oil company CPC Corp's board director Chiu Yi has called Vietnam as

neg: Spratly Islands of these islands; the Spratly group contains over 600 coral reefs in total. In April 2015 the "New York Times" reported that China were using "scores of dredgers" to convert Fiery Cross Reef and several other reefs into military facilities. Little vegetation grows on these islands, which are subject to intense monsoons. Larger islands are capable of supporting tropical forest, scrub forest, coastal scrub and grasses. It is difficult to determine which species have been introduced or cultivated by humans. Taiping Island (Itu Aba) was reportedly covered with shrubs, coconut, and mangroves in 1938; pineapple was also cultivated there when

neg: Fan Changlong Communist Party of China, and a full member of the 17th Central Committee. In 2012, ahead of the 18th Party Congress, he was appointed Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission. In mid-April 2016, he paid a visit to the disputed Spratly Islands in the South China Sea, according to the country’s Ministry of National Defense, which reported the visit on Friday 15 April 2016. Gen. Fan Changlong was said to have been the highest-ranking People’s Liberation Army officer ever to visit the Spratly Islands. General Fan led a delegation to the “relevant Nansha Islands to offer good wishes to

neg: Republic of Morac-Songhrati-Meads Republic of Morac-Songhrati-Meads The Republic of Morac-Songhrati-Meads was a micronation in the Spratly Islands established by British naval captain James George Meads in the 1870s. The republic's history begins with Captain Meads, who laid claim to the Islands in the 1870s. Meads was exploring the South China Sea and laid claim to the Spratly Islands. Descendants of Meads have continued to posit legitimacy over the islands, and ownership of the island's resources. However, there is no contemporary evidence of the existence of this state. There is no reliable information available about the life of Meads: his name does not appear

neg: Fiery Cross Reef it had been at a disadvantage compared with other claimants of areas of the South China Sea as it was the only claimant that did not have an airfield in the Spratly Islands. Since 2014 the PRC has reclaimed land on seven reefs in the Spratly Islands, and built three runways. The runway on Fiery Cross was completed in January 2016, and is the southernmost of the three, (the others being at Mischief and Subi Reefs). The PRC test-landed two civilian aircraft there in January 2016, one from China Southern Airlines and the other from Hainan Airlines. "The People's Liberation

neg: Spratly Island 4702-CP merging Spratly Island, Amboyna Cay, Itu Aba Island, Northeast Cay, Southwest Cay, Loaita Island, Thitu Island and other dependent islands with Ba Ria province (present-day Vietnam's Bà Rịa–Vũng Tàu Province). During the occupation of the island by the Imperial Japanese Navy at the time of the Pacific War, the island was known by the Japanese as . After World War II, the Republic of China Navy sent a fleet of vessels to the South China Sea to take over the occupation of islands from Japan. In 1946, the Republic of China government announced the sovereignty of this island, set

neg: Timeline of the South China Sea dispute by the People's Republic of China on the argument that since 200 BC Chinese fishermen have used the Spratly islands. Two famous Chinese books authored by Wan Zhen of the Eastern Wu State and published during the Three Kingdoms period (220–280 AD) and a work titled "Guangzhou Ji" (Chronicles of Guangzhou) authored by Pei Yuan of the Jin dynasties described the Paracel and Spratly islands. The local government of the Jin dynasties exercised jurisdiction over the islands by sending patrolling naval boats to the surrounding sea areas. Naval forces of the Song State of the Southern Dynasties (420–479 AD) patrolled

neg: Southwest Cay Southwest Cay Southwest Cay () (; ; ) is an islet on the northwestern edge of the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea. It is part of the atoll North Danger Reef, and just southwest of Northeast Cay. With an area of , it is the sixth largest of the naturally occurring Spratly Islands, and the second largest of the Vietnamese-occupied islands. Southwest Cay has the archipelago's highest point, at 4 meters above sea level. It was once a breeding place for birds, and was covered with trees and guano; export of guano had been carried out "on a

neg: Mao Kun map may also have been located in the wrong position. Despite its imperfections, it is considered a map of some significance that provided valuable information to historians. Almost half of the map (18 out of 40 pages) depicts the sailing route from Nanjing to the southern edge of China. The first few pages are on the Yangtze River. Of interest is the inclusion of what are interpreted as Paracel Islands, Macclesfield Bank or Spratly Islands - the names "Shitang" (石塘), "Wansheng Shitangyu" (萬生石塘嶼), and "Shixing Shitang" (石星石塘) are noted on the map, although identification of these islands may vary with different

neg: Spratly Islands dispute the rest of the world in general, would be interested in the Spratly Islands. In 1968, oil was discovered in the region. The Geology and Mineral Resources Ministry of the People's Republic of China (PRC) has estimated that the Spratly area holds oil and natural gas reserves of 17.7 billion tons (1.60 × 10 kg), compared to the 13 billion tons (1.17 × 10 kg) held by Kuwait, placing it as, potentially, the fourth largest reserve bed in the world. The United States Energy Information Administration contests this, estimating almost no oil and less than 100 billion cubic feet of

neg: Spratly Islands recognisable English name, who visited the group in the 1840s in his whaler "Cyrus"). However, these nations showed little interest in the islands. In 1883, German boats surveyed the Spratly and the Paracel Islands but eventually withdrew the survey, after receiving protests from the Guangdong government representing the Qing dynasty. China sent naval forces on inspection tours in 1902 and 1907 and placed flags and markers on the islands. In the 1950s, a group of individuals claimed sovereignty over the islands in the name of Morton F. Meads, supposedly an American descendant of a British naval captain who gave his

neg: Spratly Islands dispute to Taiwan since 1949, also claims all of the Spratly Islands. China claims to have discovered the islands in the Han dynasty in 2BC. The islands were claimed to have been marked on maps compiled during the time of Eastern Han dynasty and Eastern Wu (one of the Three Kingdoms). Since the Yuan dynasty in the 12th century, several islands that may be the Spratlys have been labelled as Chinese territory according to the "Yuanshi", an official history commissioned by the Hongwu Emperor of the Ming Dynasty in 1369, which has been subject to criticism for its lack of quality

neg: Spratly Islands stocks in the world's most fish-dependent region." He explained that, "the world has heard little about the damage inflicted by the Peoples Republic of China to the reefs is that the experts can't get to them." and noted "I have colleagues from the Philippines, Taiwan, PRC, Vietnam and Malaysia who have worked in the Spratly area. Most would not be able to get near the artificial islands except possibly some from PRC, and those would not be able to release their findings." Records show the islands as inhabited at various times in history by Chinese and Vietnamese fishermen, and during

neg: Spratly Islands navigation. The islands are all of similar nature; they are cays (or keys): sand islands formed on old degraded and submerged coral reefs. The Spratly Islands contain almost no significant arable land, have no indigenous inhabitants, and very few of the islands have a permanent drinkable water supply. Natural resources include fish, guano, oil and natural gas. Economic activity has included commercial fishing, shipping, guano mining, oil and gas exploitation, and more recently, tourism. The Spratlys are located near several primary shipping lanes. In 1987, China installed a small military structure on Fiery Cross Reef on the pretext to build

neg: Taiping Island first as a solid and then as a dotted line. At first, France recognized Chinese sovereignty of Spratly and Paracel islands, in exchange for Chinese recognition of Vietnam as a French territory. In 1932, a year after the Japanese formally invaded northeast China (Manchuria), France formally claimed both the Paracel and Spratly Islands. China and Japan both protested. In 1933, France seized the Paracels and Spratlys, announced their annexation, formally included them in French Indochina, and built a couple of weather stations on them, but did not disturb the numerous Chinese fishermen it found there. In 1938 Japan took the

neg: Chip Tsao "South China Morning Post" entitled "Have Hong Kong girls stopped looking for Mr White?" sparked accusations that he promoted discrimination and was jealous of white men in Hong Kong. Tsao responded that he was merely being sarcastic and provocative, repeating themes which were often discussed in Chinese media, and accused his critics themselves of being racist and lacking the ability to "read between the lines". On 27 March 2009, an article of Tsao's entitled "The War at Home" was published in the free "HK Magazine". In it, he wrote that the Philippines was unworthy of claiming the Spratly Islands from

neg: Malaysia–Vietnam border of the Continental Shelf a notification of the two countries' extended continental shelf claims. The "defined area" claimed in the joint submission covered a stretch of the South China Sea which lay in between the 200 nautical mile limit of the two countries. The area in question includes part of the Spratly Islands and its adjacent waters. The joint submission stated that the area was already subject to overlapping claims, including by both the submitting countries. The submission did not define the extended continental shelf claim of each country but merely defined the area which both countries were jointly claiming.

neg: Philippines and the Spratly Islands other countries occupied most of the features they control now during that period, the Philippines has maintained not to occupy any features further. It is attributed to the Philippines' initiation for the cooperative development of the area. The Philippines, Vietnam and Malaysia, along with other ASEAN countries who can serve as investors, were already drawing a plan on a wide exploitation of the Spratly group in the early 1980s when suddenly China became interested in the area. China began occupying features by mid-1980s causing the ASEAN plan to halt. The most controversial occupation of China is the Panganiban Reef (Mischief

neg: Territorial disputes in the South China Sea Spratly Islands as included in their own territory. On 11 June 1978, President Ferdinand Marcos of the Philippines issued Presidential decree No. 1596, declaring the north-western part of the Spratly Islands (referred to therein as the Kalayaan Island Group) as Philippine territory. The once abundant fishing opportunities within the region are another motivation for claims. In 2012, the South China Sea was believed to have accounted for 12% of world fishing catches worth $21.8 billion. There have been many clashes in the Philippines with foreign fishing vessels (including those of the PRC) in disputed areas. According to some commentators, the