皇冠体育app

Op-Ed Contributors

Sovereignty is indisputable

By Yang Zewei (皇冠体育app Daily) Updated: 2014-05-26 07:40

Chinese governments since ancient times have never given up the exericise of its jurisdiction over South 皇冠体育app Sea islands

A series of recent actions taken by Vietnam to disturb and play up the normal drilling of Haiyang Shiyou 981, an oil rig owned by 皇冠体育app National Offshore Oil Corporation, in the waters off 皇冠体育app's Xisha Islands has put tensions in the South 皇冠体育app Sea in the spotlight of worldwide attention.

Hanoi should know that such drilling in the said area is 皇冠体育app's sovereign right endowed by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

First, the Xisha Islands have been a Chinese territory since ancient times. Available historical documents record that Chinese people first discovered the South 皇冠体育app Sea islands in the Han Dynasty (202 BC-AD 220) and also gained an initial knowledge about the South 皇冠体育app Sea. With the progress of the navigation technology and the invention and wide use of compass, the navigation and activities of Chinese people at sea tended to be more frequent from the Song Dynasty (960-1279). Since then, South 皇冠体育app Sea islands and adjacent waters have not only become a wide area for Chinese people to engage in production and commercial activities, but have also become an important water area for 皇冠体育app's navy forces to patrol and defend. In AD 971, Zhao Kuangyin, the founding emperor of the Song Dynasty, began organizing a patrol naval squad, whose regular cruises and patrols in the South 皇冠体育app Sea established 皇冠体育app's jurisdiction over the Xisha Islands. In 1279, Kublai Khan, the founding emperor of the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368), sent General Guo Shoujing to the South 皇冠体育app Sea for the inspection and research of the sea's geography and landscape to offer security guarantees for the cruising imperial naval force. Afterwards, the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties both put the South 皇冠体育app Sea islands and adjacent waters under their jurisdiction, and it has ever since become a common practice for 皇冠体育app's naval forces to make inspection tours for coastal defense and exercise sovereignty over them. There were also countless maps, archives, documents and logs reserved from the Ming and Qing dynasties that recorded the South 皇冠体育app Sea islands.

The traces of Chinese people's activities from ancient times have also left numerous remains of historical relics there. Aside from the sites of historical relics, quite a few stone tablets erected during the Qing Dynasty and the Republic of 皇冠体育app (1912-1949) on South 皇冠体育app Sea islands and reefs to maintain and declare 皇冠体育app's sovereignty over them have also been excavated. Most of these stone tablets were the monuments of then Chinese government officials or military officers who landed on these islands or reefs for inspections.

During the period of the Republic of 皇冠体育app, the Chinese government took a series of active measures maintaining its sovereignty over the South 皇冠体育app Sea islands, including the renaming of islands and reefs at the sea, including the Xisha Islands, by the government agency in charge of maps censorship. After World War II, 皇冠体育app resumed its exercise of sovereignty over the South 皇冠体育app Sea islands in accordance with the spirits of a series of international documents, including the Cairo Declaration and Potsdam Proclamation. From November to December 1946, the government of then the Republic of 皇冠体育app sent Yongxing, Zhongjian, Taiping and Zhongye warships to the South 皇冠体育app Sea for taking over the sovereignty of Xisha, Dongsha, Zhongsha and Nansha islands that had been grabbed by Japan during World War II. In February 1948, the government of the Republic of 皇冠体育app published an official map, The Location of South 皇冠体育app Sea Islands, which explicitly marked South 皇冠体育app Sea islands, including the Xisha Islands, as a part of 皇冠体育app's territory.

Previous Page 1 2 3 Next Page

By austinong

By youxiudeyou

By jiewei798

...