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China has indisputable
sovereignty over the islands in the
South China Sea
—Understanding The South China Sea issue
from the angle of law
Yunxia Song
Dalian Naval Academy
People’s Republic of China
POINTS
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China has indisputable sovereignty over the
islands in the South China Sea and their
adjacent waters.
The disputes over the South China Sea should
be solved through peaceful means.
China’s stance on the resources in this area is
that “China is willing to shelve the disputes and
go in for joint development”.
In compliance with international law and does
not conflict with the contemporary maritime
law.
1. China has abundant
jurisprudential evidence for its
sovereignty over the islands in the
South China Sea.
Discovery and Pre-emption
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According to the international law, discovery
and pre-emption means that a country can
acquire the sovereignty over an unowned land
through its first pre-emption.
In contemporary international law, the
effectiveness of pre-emption, as a mode of
acquisition of territory, is also adequately
considered in the practice of solving territorial
disputes between countries.
Totally conforms to every essential
element
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--The first to discover and name the islands in
the South China Sea including the Nansha
Islands.
--The first to develop the islands and carry out
productive activities there.
--The first to exercise continuous sovereignty
over the islands.
--which has long been recognized by the
international community .
Jurisprudential evidence
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Such as Records of Rarities by Yang Fu
of the Eastern Han Dynasty (the 2nd
Century AD)
Jurisprudential evidence
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Such as Records of Rarities by Yang Fu
of the Eastern Han Dynasty (the 2nd
Century AD) .
 Records of Rarities in Southern
Boundary by Wan Zhen of the Three
Kingdoms Period (the 3rd Century AD) .
Jurisprudential evidence
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Such as Records of Rarities by Yang Fu of the
Eastern Han Dynasty (the 2nd Century AD) .
Records of Rarities in Southern Boundary by
Wan Zhen of the Three Kingdoms Period (the
3rd Century AD) .
Printed by the Hydrography Department of the
Royal Navy of the United Kingdom in 1912.
Le Monde Colonial issued in 1933 .
Jurisprudential evidence
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The Chinese people have been fishing,
planting and conducting other productive
activities on the Nansha Islands and their
adjacent waters.
Jurisprudential evidence
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Since Emperor Zhenyuan of the Tang Dynasty
(the 8th Century AD), China has included the
Nansha Islands into its administrative map,
which was amply recorded in the official
documents, the local history books.
After the World War II ended, the Chinese
Government recovered the Nansha Islands
once invaded and occupied by Japan.
The Nansha Islands are not land
without owners, but rather they
are an inalienable part of Chinese
territory. The Chinese
Government has indisputable
sovereignty over the Nansha
Islands and their adjacent waters.
2. Basic Stance and Policy of the
Chinese Government in Solving
the South China Sea Issue.
Basic Stance and Policy
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The Chinese Government has always stood for
negotiated settlement of international disputes
through peaceful means.
China attaches great importance to the safety
and unimpededness of the international water
lanes on the South China Sea.
The disputes over the South China Sea should
be solved by the directly concerned countries
through negotiations.
3. China’s stance and policy on
the South China Sea issue do not
conflict with the UN Convention
on the Law of the Sea.
The territorial sovereignty issue is not
subjected to the adjustment of the
Convention.
 China had acquired its sovereignty over
the islands in the South China Sea long
before the 1982 Convention came into
effect.
 The Convention insists on the principle of
“la terre domine la mer”.
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Thank you !