Chinese ambassador to the UK Liu Xiaoming made the following remarks in his key speech on Friday to the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies, a leading international think-tank.
Chinese ambassador to the UK Liu Xiaoming made the following remarks in his key speech on Friday to the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies, a leading international think-tank.
It is truly a delight to be back again at the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) after three years. Back then, I was invited by Dr. John Chipman to deliver a speech about China's Diplomacy in the New Era. Today my speech is also about China's diplomacy, but I will focus on one issue - the South China Sea.
Recently the South China Sea issue has attracted much attention and media coverage. However, the articles and reporting show that the truth and facts behind the issue remain unclear to most people. Misunderstandings still exist.
So I have chosen to speak about this issue at IISS, a prestigious institution that focuses on international studies. I will expound on China's position and policy, and then take questions from you. In this way, I hope our interaction today will help you gain a more comprehensive and accurate understanding of the issue.
In order to be objective, impartial and rational on the issue of the South China Sea, one must get to the root of the issue and put it in perspective. So I would like to begin with the history of China and the South China Sea.
The islands and reefs in the South China Sea have been Chinese territory since ancient times. I emphasise ‘ancient times' to highlight the historical facts that put the South China Sea firmly on the map of China. To elaborate on this, let me share with you four "Firsts".
China was the first to discover the islands in the South China Sea
Some of the countries attempt to claim some of the islands on grounds of "prior possession". They try to get away with their illegal occupation by referring to Nansha Islands as "Terra Nullius". In fact, as early as 200 BC, during China's Han Dynasty, the Chinese had large-scale and frequent sea-faring and fishing activities in the South China Sea. There is clear evidence that the South China Sea was already used by China as an important shipping route since ancient times. It follows that, because of frequent shipping, the Chinese became the first to discover the islands in the South China Sea.
Marwyn Samuels is known for his studies on the South China Sea. He wrote a book in the 1980s called ‘Contest for the South China Sea'. In this book he wrote:
"Along the way, both literarily and figuratively, the South China Sea and its islands helped shape the geographical cognita of the Chinese world order."
Second, China was the first to name the islands in the South China Sea.
Today, Nansha of the South China Sea is called the Spratly Islands in the west. This name comes from a British sea captain called Richard Spratly who thought it was he who had "discovered" and "named" the islands in 1843. But actually the Chinese had started to name the Nansha Islands about 2,000 years before he did.
In various kinds of Chinese historical records dating back to over 2000 years, the South China Sea is known as "Zhang Hai", or "rising sea", and the islands, reefs, shoals and sands as "Qi Tou", or "rugged peaks". In historical documents of later dynasties after the Han Dynasty, ancient names referring to today's Xisha Islands, Nansha Islands and individual islands in the archipelagoes are clearly recorded.
A popular sailing guide called "Geng Lu Bu" was compiled by Chinese fishermen. This was during the Ming and Qing Dynasties between the 14th and 20th century. In this book, names of dozens of islands of the South China Sea, including those in Nansha, are recorded. Many of these names have been widely adopted and used by international sailors until this day.
Third, China was the first to exercise administrative jurisdiction in the South China Sea.
Ever since China's Tang Dynasty, about 1,200 years ago, successive Chinese governments have exercised jurisdiction over the South China Sea. This included islands and the waters around them. China's sovereignty was established through administrative establishment, naval patrol, resources development and management.
In the 10th century, during China's Song Dynasty, local chronicles explicitly recorded that the islands in the South China Sea were under the administrative jurisdiction of Qiongzhou, which is today's Hainan province.
In 1279, China's famous astronomer Guo Shoujing was recorded traveling to the South China Sea and building observatorial facilities. The Governments of the Ming and Qing dynasties both placed the South China Sea under the supervision of naval patrols.
Fourth, China is also the first country to develop the islands in the South China Sea.
For centuries, the Chinese have been engaged in fishing, planting and other activities on the islands and in the nearby waters. The remains of this continuous habitation can be seen through archaeological evidence found on many islands. The fact that only Chinese lived on the Nansha islands is recorded clearly in the book called The China Sea Pilot published by the British Navy in 1868.
The aforementioned four "Firsts" are based on substantial and concrete historical evidence. They testify to the fact that the islands of the South China Sea have long been Chinese territory under successive, peaceful and effective administration.
Until the 1970s, it was widely recognised by the international community that islands in the South China Sea belonged to China. Let me give you two examples:
• In 1883, Germany sent military vessels to Xisha and Nansha for surveys. The Government of Guangdong Province protested to the Germans, citing Chinese sovereignty. Germany had to stop the survey and withdrew their team.
• In 1958, the Chinese government issued a declaration on territorial waters applicable to all Chinese territory including Xisha, Nansha and other islands in the South China Sea. Vietnam's then prime minister, Phạm Văn Đồng, sent to Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai a diplomatic note which explicitly recognizes that Xisha and Nansha belonged to China.
I could give you more examples like these if we had more time.
History speaks for itself as to who owns those islands in the South China Sea. Then how did the disputes arise?
Since the 1970s, some countries have tried to lay claim on the natural resources in the South China Sea. It was then that some nations began to make territorial claims. Vietnam and Philippines sent troops and illegally occupied some of the islands. That is how the disputes started. Up till today, Vietnam has occupied 29 islands, Philippines eight and Malaysia five.
In 1982, the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) was concluded after 9 years of negotiations. With this development of the maritime legal system in the 1980s, countries around the South China Sea gradually made further claims. These were based on UNCLOS agreements that include the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), continental shelf and other maritime rights and interests. Such overlapping claims in some cases gave rise to disputes of maritime delimitation. This has caused further complications to the issue of the South China Sea.
It is clear that there are two disputes at the centre of the South China Sea issue:
• One is the territorial dispute caused by illegal occupation of Chinese territory.
• The other is the dispute over maritime delimitation caused by overlapping claims of maritime jurisdiction.
These two disputes are intertwined and have made the issue highly complex. However, one thing is clear: whichever angle one chooses to look at the issue, China has never been the troublemaker. Quite the opposite, China has been a victim.
Then what is China's position and policy?
For a long time China has exercised a high-level of self-restraint and forbearance on this issue. We have always approached the disputes in a constructive and responsible manner. If China had not maintained self-restraint, the South China Sea would not have been what it is today.
I would like to summarize China's position as five "commitments".
First, China maintains a strong commitment to peace and stability in the South China Sea.
For years, China has been a staunch force safeguarding and maintaining regional peace and stability. Building friendship and partnership with neighbours has always been a top priority in China's policy towards neighbouring countries.
The Chinese people are a peace loving nation. Moreover, China's development needs a peaceful environment. In the past three decades peace and stability has enabled China to industrialise at a speed and scale that is unprecedented in human history. This advance by China can be largely attributed to the peaceful and stable environment in its neighborhood and beyond. So, China would be the last to wish to see instability in the South China Sea. It means that China would be the first to oppose conflicts in the South China Sea.
Second, China maintains a strong commitment to solving disputes peacefully through friendly consultations and negotiations.
The ultimate resolution of territorial disputes, regardless of its mechanisms or process, has to be agreed between parties directly involved. The dialogue must be based on negotiations on an equal footing if such a resolution is to be fundamental and lasting. Negotiations and consultations are the most effective way of disputes resolution. This is because they can, to the greatest extent, reflect the principle of sovereign equality and the will and wishes of the parties involved.
Since the People's Republic of China was founded in 1949, we have signed boundary treaties with 12 of our 14 neighbours on land. These treaties involved over 20,000 kilometers of boundary. Most of the neighbors are medium-sized or small nations, but none of them has ever complained about the approach of China in the negotiations. These are examples of how China has resolved disputes through face-to-face negations with other countries directly involved in the disputes.
The South China Sea disputes do not need to be an exception. Experience shows that only negotiation and consultation could help the parties concerned to constantly build mutual trust, manage problems, narrow differences and advance cooperation. Negotiation and consultation are the most realistic and effective approach to the South China Sea issue.
Third, China maintains a strong commitment to rule-based dispute management.
China and ASEAN countries signed the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea in 2002 and are now working closely on the making of the "Code of Conduct in the South China Sea", or COC for short. Since the start of the COC consultation, there has already been much progress.
China and ASEAN countries have worked actively to set up the "Senior Officials' Hotline Platform" in response to maritime emergencies, and the "Point-to-Point Hotline Communication" on search and rescue. All sides have also agreed to establish "Preventive Measures to Manage Risks at Sea", which will serve as the interim measure prior to the final conclusion of the COC. What happened over the years has testified to the effectiveness of rule-based dispute management.
Fourth, China maintains a strong commitment to the freedom of navigation and over-flight.
China is the biggest littoral state in the South China Sea. The vast majority of China's energy supply and trade pass through the South China Sea. This means China cares more than any other nation about freedom of navigation and over-flight in the South China Sea.
Recently ‘freedom of navigation' has become a hot subject. Some people talk about "protecting the freedom of navigation".
This creates a dangerous misunderstanding as it implies that the safety and security of ships passing through the region were under immediate threat. The reality is that more than 100,000 vessels pass through the South China Sea every year. None of them has ever run into any problem with freedom of navigation.
If there was real threat to maritime traffic in the South China Sea then this would immediately result in a jump in shipping insurance rates. This has not happened. The Reuters news agency reported in January that there are no signs of commercial shipping being affected in the South China Sea. The report went on to say that the South China Sea area was not listed as a high risk area by the industry's influential Lloyd's Joint War Committee. This means insurers do not charge additional premiums for vessels operating in the region.
Business people, particularly insurers, are the most responsive to risks. Yet they haven't sensed any threat to freedom of navigation in the South China Sea. This makes me wonder what kind of "freedom of navigation" some people are feeling so eager to protect.
The fact is, "freedom of navigation" has recently been used as an excuse by the United States to flex its military muscles in the South China Sea. The United States sends military jets and warships on close-in reconnaissance in the nearby waters and air space of China's islands and reefs. Such dangerous actions has increased tension and posed a threat to China's sovereignty and security.
For example, just ten days ago, the USS William P. Lawrence, a guided missile destroyer, illegally sailed into the waters near China's Nansha islands. The ship manoevered without Chinese government's permission in sovereign waters of China.
Actions such as this, I am afraid, can not be regarded as protection of "freedom of navigation". They are a manifestation of superior military power and the assertion of maritime dominance. These actions have posed the biggest threat to the real freedom of navigation and the peace and stability in the South China Sea.
To those who claim that they care about freedom of navigation and over-flight, I hope they will act in strict accordance with the international law and respect the sovereignty and security of coastal state.
The actions of the United States should be judged at all times by its approach to international law. If the United States had a serious commitment to maritime law then it would have signed the UNCLOS. China has signed UNCLOS along with most other member nations.
Respect for international law and peaceful dialogue on disputes is crucial for the stability and peace in the South China Sea.
Military provocation and intimidation in the name of "freedom of navigation" is highly dangerous. Such actions directly undermine regional peace and stability.
Turning to my next commitment point.
