MANILA, Philippines - Chinese authorities have failed to identify
specific historical evidence backing Beijing's claims that it owns
disputed islands in the West Philippine Sea, a confidential US embassy
cable published by anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks said.
Cable 08BEIJING3499, sent to Washington by the US embassy in Beijing
in September 9, 2008, said a Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA)
official and a local scholar could not identify specific historical
records to justify China's "Nine Dashes" claim that covers the whole
Spratlys and areas within other countries' exclusive economic zones
(EEZs).
MFA Department of Treaty and Law Oceans and Law of the Sea Division
Deputy Director Yin Wenqiang told a US embassy political officer on
August 30, 2008 that "China has indisputable sovereignty over the
islands in the South China Sea and the adjacent waters."
However, the US official said "Yin admitted he is not aware of the
historical basis for the 'Nine Dashes'" and only mentioned unspecified
"Chinese historical documents" that indicate the basis for China's
claims on territory west of the Philippines, according to the cable.
The US official also talked to Beijing University Asia scholar Yang Baoyun about China's claims.
Yang said China's claims "date back to ancient times, prior to the development of the modern nation-state."
"Neither MFA's Yin nor Beijing University's Yang could specify a
historical document that indicated the basis for the demarcation of the
'Nine Dashes'," the cable added.
Yang referred to a 2000 MFA "white paper" on the Spratlys. "However,
the white paper devotes little attention to the history of the "Nine
Dashes," providing, for example, only vague references to areas
frequented by Chinese fisherman from Hainan," the memo said.
China skirts UN pact
Although China is a signatory to the 1982 UN Convention on Law of the
Sea (UNCLOS), it will not attempt to verify its claims before the
mechanism, said the MFA official as quoted by the US memo.
"China will not refer its SCS [South China Sea] claim to dispute
settlement procedures established in UNCLOS, because, Yin said, 'it is
not in China's tradition' to submit to such compulsory or binding
decision mechanisms," the cable said.
"When queried as to why China acceded to UNCLOS, Yin commented that
China became a signatory nation because neighboring countries in the SCS
joined, and China believes its SCS claim is not threatened by UNCLOS,"
it added.
While China declared a 12-nautical-mile baseline around the Paracel
Islands and along its mainland coast in 1996, Yin said his government
China has no plans to declare a baseline around any of the Spratly
Islands, the memo revealed.
The Chinese official said his country's claim "came much earlier than UNCLOS" and "UNCLOS cannot clarify everything."
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Jojo Malig | ABS-CBNnews.com | April 20, 2012 | Article Link