Re: Tibetans fear $3.2 billion railroad is being built at their expense

[Continued]

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Historical Evidence To Support China's Sovereignty over Nansha Islands
 
2000/11/17 
 
 



China was the first to discover, name, develop,conduct economic
activities on and exercise jurisdiction of the Nansha Islands.

A. China the First to Discover and Name the Nansha Islands 

The earliest discovery by the Chinese people of the Nansha Islands can
be traced back to as early as the Han Dynasty. Yang Fu of the East Han
Dynasty (23-220 A.D.) made reference to the Nansha Islands in his book
entitled Yiwu Zhi (Records of Rarities) , which reads: "Zhanghai
qitou, shui qian er duo cishi"("There are islets, sand cays, reefs and
banks in the South China Sea, the water there is shallow and filled
with magnetic rocks or stones"). Chinese people then called the South
China Sea Zhanghai and all the islands, reefs, shoals and isles in the
South China Sea, including the Nansha and Xisha Islands, Qitou.

General Kang Tai, one of the famous ancient Chinese navigators of the
East Wu State of the Three Kingdoms Period (220-280AD), also mentioned
the Nansha Islands in his book entitled Funan Zhuan (or Journeys to
and from Phnom) (the name of an ancient state in today's Cambodia). He
used the following sentences in describing the islands: "In the South
China Sea, there are coral islands and reefs; below these islands and
reefs are rocks upon which the corals were formed."

In numerous history and geography books published in the Tang and Song
Dynasties, the Nansha and Xisha Islands were called Jiuruluo Islands,
Shitang (literally meaning atolls surrounding a lagoon), Changsha
(literally meaning long ranges of shoals), Qianli Shitang, Qianli
Changsha, Wanli Shitang, and Wanli Changsha among others. Reference
was made to the Nansha Islands in over one hundred categories of books
published in the four dynasties of Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing in the
name of Shitang or Changsha.

There were more detailed descriptions of the geographical locations
and specific positions of the various islands of the Nansha Islands in
the Yuan Dynasty. For instance, Wang Dayuan, a prominent Chinese
navigator in the Yuan Dynasty, wrote about the Nansha Islands in his
book entitled Abridged Records of Islands and Barbarians in these
words: "The base of Wanli Shitang originates from Chaozhou. It is
tortuous as a long snake lying in the sea. Its veins can all be
traced. One such vein strentches to Java, one to Boni (or Burni, a
kingdom which then existed in what is now Brunei in the vicinity of
the Kalimantan) and Gulidimen (another kingdom on the Kalimantan), and
one to the west side of the sea toward Kunlun (Con Son Islands,
located outside the mouth of the mekong River some 200 nautical miles
away from Saigon) in the distance?." Wanli Shitang here refers to all
the islands in the South China Sea, including the Nansha Islands.

In the Consolidated Map of Territories and Geography and Capitals of
Past Dynasties published in the Ming Dynasty, we find the words
"Shitang", "Changsha" and "Shitang." Judging from the geographical
locations of these places as marked on the Map, the second Shitang
denotes today's Nansha Islands.

The Road Map of the Qing Dynasty marks the specific locations of all
the islands, reefs, shoals and isles of the Nansha Islands where
fishermen of China's Hainan Island used to frequent, including 73
named places of the Nansha Islands.

B. China the First to Develop the Nansha Islands 

Chinese people started to develop the Nansha Islands and engage in
fishing on the islands as early as in the beginning of the Ming
Dynasty. At that time, fishermen from Haikou Port, Puqian Port,
Qinglan Port and Wenchang County went to the Nansha Islands to fish
sea cucumber and other sea produce.

The 1868 Guide to the South China Sea has accounts of the activities
of the Chinese fishermen in the Nansha Islands. According to the
Guide, "fishermen from Hainan Island went to Zhenhe Isles and Reefs
and lived on sea cucumber and shells they got there. The footmarks of
fishermen could be found in every isle of the Nansha Islands and some
of the fishermen would even live there for a long period of time.
Every year, there were small boats departing from Hainan Island for
the Nansha Islands to exchange rice and other daily necessities for
sea cucumber and shells from the fishermen there. The ships used to
leave Hainan Island in December or January every year and return when
the southwesterly monsoon started." Since the end of the Qing Dynasty,
fishermen from Hainan Island and Leizhou Peninsula of China have kept
going for fishing on the Nansha Islands. Most of the fishermen come
from Wenchang County and Qionghai County. One or two dozens of fishing
boats from these two counties would go to the Nansha Islands every
year.

The Road Map is another strong evidence to the development of the
islands on the South China Sea by the Chinese people since the Ming
and Qing Dynasties. The Road Map served as a navigational guide to the
Chinese fishermen for their trips to the Xisha and Nansha Islands for
productive activities there. It was a result of the collective work of
many people on the basis of their navigational experience. The first
Road Map was produced in the Ming Dynasty and it was constantly
improved later on. It showed the navigational routes and courses from
Qinglan, Wenchang County, Hainan Island or Tanmen Port of Qionghai
County to the various isles of the Xisha and Nansha Islands.

The development and productive activities of the Chinese fishermen on
the Nansha Islands after the founding of the Republic of China in 1912
have been recorded in both Chinese and foreign history books. Mr.
Okura Unosuke of Japan wrote about his expedition trip to Beizi Island
in 1918 in his book Stormy Islands, which reads: "he saw three people
from Haikou of Wenchang County when the expedition team he organized
arrived in Beizi Island." In 1933, Miyoshi and Matuo of Japan saw two
Chinese people on the Beizi Island and three Chinese people on the
Nanzi Island when they made an investigation trip to the Nansha
Islands. It is also recorded in A Survey of the New South Islands
published in Japan that "fishermen planted sweet potato on Zhongye
Island and that fishermen from the Republic of China resided on the
islands and grew coconuts, papaya, sweet potato and vegetables there."

C. China the First to Exercise Jurisdiction over the Nansha Islands 

The Nansha Islands came under the jurisdiction of China from the Yuan
Dynasty. Geography Book of the History of the Yuan Dynasty and Map of
the Territory of the Yuan Dynasty with Illustration both includes the
Nansha Islands within the domain of the Yuan Dynasty. The History of
the Yuan Dynasty has accounts of the patrol and inspection activities
by the navy on the Nansha Islands in the Yuan Dynasty.

The inscription on the Memorial Tablet of the Tomb to General Qian
Shicai of the Hainan Garrison Command of the Ming Dynasty reads:
"Guangdong is adjacent to the grand South China Sea, and the
territories beyond the Sea all internally belong to the Ming State."
"General Qian led more than ten thousand soldiers and 50 huge ships to
patrol tens of thousands of li on the South China Sea." All these
descriptions clearly testify to the ownership by China of the Nansha
Islands in the Ming Dynasty. The Hainan Garrison Command of the Ming
Dynasty was responsible for inspecting and patrolling as well as
exercising jurisdiction over the Xisha, Zhongsha and Nansha Islands.

In the Qing Dynasty, the Chinese Government marked the Nansha Islands
on the authoritative maps and exercised administrative jurisdiction
over these islands. The Nansha Islands were marked as Chinese
territory in many maps drawn in the Qing Dynasty such as A Map of
Administrative Divisions of the Whole China of the 1724 Map of
Provinces of the Qing Dynasty, A Map of Administrative Divisions of
the Whole China of the 1755 Map of Provinces of the Imperial Qing
Dynasty, the 1767 Map of Unified China of the Great Qing for Ten
Thousand Years, the 1810 Topographical Map of Unified China of the
Great Qing for Ten Thousand Years and the 1817 Map of Unified China of
the Great Qing for Ten Thousand Years.

Between 1932 and 1935, the Chinese Government set up a Committee for
the Review of Maps of Lands and Waters of China, which was composed of
officials from the Headquarters of the General Staff, the Ministry of
Internal Affairs, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Navy Command,
the Ministry of Education and the Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs
Commission. This Committee examined and approved 132 names of the
islands in the South China Sea, all of which belonged to the Xisha,
Zhongsha and Nansha Islands.

In 1933, France invaded and occupied 9 of the Nansha Islands,
including Taiping and Zhongye Islands. The Chinese fishermen who lived
and worked on the Nansha Islands immediately made a firm resistance
against the invasion and the Chinese Government lodged a strong
protest with the French Government.

All the names of the islands, isles and reefs on the South China Sea
including the Nansha Islands were unmistakably marked on the Map of
the Islands in the South China Sea compiled and printed by the
Committee for the Review of Maps of Lands and Waters of China in 1935.

In 1939, Japan invaded and occupied the islands on the South China
Sea. In line with the Cairo Declaration and the Potsdam Proclamation,
the Ministry of Internal Affairs of China, in consultation with the
Navy and the government of Guangdong Province, appointed Xiao Ciyi and
Mai Yunyu Special Commissioner to the Xisha and Nansha Islands
respectively in 1946 to take over the two archipelagoes and erect
marks of sovereignty on the Islands.

In 1947, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of China renamed 159
islands, reefs, islets and shoals on the South China Sea, including
the Nansha Islands. It subsequently publicized all the names for
administrative purposes.

In 1983, the Chinese Toponymy Committee was authorized to publicize
the approved names of the islands, reefs, islets and shoals on the
South China Sea.

In short, a host of historical facts have proved that it was the
Chinese people who were the first to discover and develop the Nansha
Islands and it was the Chinese Government that has long exercised
sovereignty and jurisdiction over these islands. The Nansha Islands
have become an inalienable part of Chinese territory since ancient
times.





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Jurisprudential Evidence To Support China's Sovereignty over the
Nansha Islands
 
2000/11/17 
 
 



China has indisputable sovereignty over the Nansha Islands and it has
ample jurisprudential evidence to support this.

A. Full and accurate historical data, both Chinese and foreign, has
provided rich and substantial evidence to show that the Chinese people
were the first to discover and name the Nansha Islands. As early as in
the Han Dynasty that was more than two thousand years ago, the Chinese
people discovered the Nansha Islands through their navigational
experience and in the course of their productive activities over the
years. All this was amply recorded in the books such as Records of
Rarities by Yang Fu of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Records of Rarities in
Southern Boundary by Wan Zhen of the Three Kingdoms Period and A
History of Phnom by General Kang Tai of the East Wu State. All these
historical records represent the Chinese people's cognition and
appreciation of the land on which they lived and worked. They are of
great importance in the perspective of international law. In view of
the development of international law, these records and accounts of
the discovery by the ancient Chinese people of the islands on the
South China Sea bear abundant evidence to China's indisputable
territorial sovereignty over the Nansha Islands. Obviously, the Nansha
Islands are not land without owners, but rather they are an
inalienable part of Chinese territory. No country in the world has the
right to change China's legal status as the owner of the Nansha
Islands in any way.

B. The fact that the Chinese people have developed the Nansha Islands
and carried out productive activities there and that the Chinese
Government has actually exercised jurisdiction over these islands has
reinforced China's sovereignty over the Nansha Islands. After
discovering the Nansha Islands, the Chinese people started to develop
and engage in fishing, planting and other productive activities on the
Nansha Islands and their adjacent waters from the Tang and Song
Dynasties at the latest. Fei Yuan of the Jin Dynasty (265-420 A.D.)
wrote about the fishing and collecting of coral samples by the
fishermen of China on the South China Sea in his article Chronicles of
Guangzhou. After the Ming and Qing Dynasties, fishermen from Wenchang
County and Qionghai County of Hainan Island used to sail southward
with the northeasterly monsoon to the Nansha Islands and their
adjacent waters for fishing every winter and come back to Hainan with
the southwesterly monsoon before the typhoon season started. The
Chinese people lived and engaged in fishing, planting and other
productive activities on the Nansha Islands individually at first, but
they were later on organized with the approval and support of the
Chinese Government. Even when the conditions on the Nansha Islands
were not suitable for people to live, some of the Chinese fishermen
still lived on the islands for years. For ages, Chinese fishermen
would come and go between Hainan Island and Guangdong Province on the
one hand and the Nansha Islands on the other for productive activities
and they never failed to pay their taxes and fees to the Chinese
Government.

C. The exercise of jurisdiction by the Chinese Government over the
Nansha Islands is also manifested in a series of continued effective
government behavior. After Emperor Zhenyuan of the Tang Dynasty
(785-805AD) came to the throne, China included the Nansha Islands into
its administrative map. It did so more conscientiously in the Ming and
Qing Dynasties. A wealth of official documents of the Chinese
Government, its local history books and official maps have recorded
the exercise of jurisdiction by the successive governments of China
over the Nansha Islands and recognized these islands as Chinese
territory. Up till the beginning of this century, the Chinese
Government had exercised peaceful jurisdiction over the Nansha Islands
without any disputes.

Since the beginning of this century, the Chinese Government has
undauntedly maintained China's sovereignty over the Nansha Islands. In
the 1930s, France once invaded and occupied nine of the Nansha
Islands, over which the Chinese Government immediately made diplomatic
representations with the French Government and against which Chinese
fishermen staged an organized resistance. Between 1912 and 1949 when
China was a republic, the then Chinese Government took a series of
active measures to safeguard its sovereignty. For instance, it
furnished the Chinese fishermen and fishing boats that engaged in the
fishing on the Nansha Islands and their adjacent waters with China's
national flags. It organized trips to the Nansha Islands for a survey
of their history and geography. And it authorized a map-printing and
toponymic agency to rename and approve the names of all the islands on
the South China Sea including the Nansha Islands, individually and
collectively.

During World War II, Japan invaded and occupied China's Nansha
Islands. China made unremitting efforts for the recovery of these
islands from the Japanese occupation. In 1943, China, the United
States and the United Kingdom announced in the Cairo Declaration that
all the territories that Japan had stolen from China should be
"restored to China," including "Manchuria, Taiwan and the Penghu
Islands." At that time, Japan put the Nansha Islands under the
jurisdiction of Taiwan. The territories to be restored to China as
identified in the Cairo Declaration naturally included the Nansha
Islands. The 1945 Potsdam Proclamationconfirmed once again that the
stolen territories should be restored to China. According to the Cairo
Declaration and Potsdam Proclamation, China recovered the Nansha
Island in 1946. At the same time it went through a series of legal
procedures and announced to the whole world that China had resumed the
exercise of sovereignty over the Nansha Islands. Subsequently, the
Chinese Government held a take-over ceremony and sent troops to the
islands on garrison duty. An official map of the Nansha Islands was
drawn and printed, the Nansha Islands were renamed, collectively and
individually, and the earliest book of the physical geography of the
Nansha Islands was also compiled and printed.

After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the Nansha
Islands were incorporated into Guangdong Province and Hainan Province
successively and the Chinese Gvoernment has all along maintained
China's sovereignty over the Nansha Islands and taken effective
actions for that.

In view of all this, the Chinese Government has indisputable
sovereignty over the Nansha Islands. Some countries have claimed
sovereignty of these islands on the ground that these islands are
within their continental shelves or exclusive economic zones.
According to international law and the UN Convention on the Law of the
Sea, maritime rights and interests should be based on territorial
sovereignty for the former derives from the latter. No country should
be allowed to extend its maritime jurisdiction to the territories of
other countries, still less should it be allowed to invade and occupy
other's territory on the ground of exclusive economic zones or the
continental shelves. All in all, any action by any country with regard
to the islets, islands or reefs of the Nansha Islands, military or
otherwise, constitutes encroachment of China's territorial
sovereignty. It is illegal and null and void according to
international law. It can in no way serve as a basis for a country's
territorial claim, nor can it change China's indisputable legal status
as having sovereignty over the Nansha Islands.


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