The Philippines, Vietnam, and Territorial Disputes in the South China Sea

[@chiupolini]

There appears to be a lot of misconception in the web about China's claim over the South China Sea. The one most often seen is that China is too far away to claim it. This is a gut reaction to which I once shared when this topic first heated up in recent years. However as I discussed this topic on the web with others, I carried out research, and this changed my mind as the historical facts are revealed. There are many ways a person may come to own a property. One way is he inherited it from his parents, and his parents from his grandparents. Similar principle applies to nations. China is an old country and it was invaded but has never been colonized by western powers. However Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia did, and they only gained independence after WWII. Their nationhood are therefore defined by their colonial masters. In that sense what territorial rights each of these once colonized countries have, or inherited, must be traced to that claimed by their previous colonial masters. As the claims of Brunei and Indonesia are insignificant, I shall concentrate only on the main contenders, i.e. Vietnam, the Philippines and, to certain extent, Malaysia, and contrast that with the historical claim of China. Below is a summary of the facts of China's claims to the South China Sea I collated through my research, some of which are from old records written in Chinese before the dispute even arose. Most of them may however be found in the internet if you care to do some research. While I do not claim they are the full facts, they are at least much richer in contents than some of the arguments presented in the internet or the so called “forums”. If you think you are open minded, try to read them. Whether you agree with China's stance of not, it does show that the South China Sea issue is not a recent invention by China but "it may be that some of the claims are legitimate", a phrase used by the US President Obama on 1st June 2015 in a meeting with the young South East Asian leaders. Chinese fishermen were using the South China Sea as fishing ground and inhibited those islands during fishing season on regular basis since at least the Sung dynasty more than 1,000 years ago and these were recorded facts. Up to now many of the larger islands in the South China Sea still has remains of old Chinese temples built by the fishermen to beg for good fortune. There is also a book called Kan Lo Chi (更路誌) which until the introduction of the GPS was used by Chinese fishermen for navigating the SCS, and which recorded all the atolls, sand bars and reefs based on records compiled by hundreds of generations of Chinese fishermen. This shows how common Chinese fishermen used the South China Sea as its traditional fishing ground. That of course is not decisive as fishermen of other lands also fished in the SCS although probably not as extensively as the Chinese. However by the time of the Ming dynasty in the 15th century (i.e. preceding the invasion of the Philippines by Spain) all the surrounding lands in the South China Sea were either not developed, or were vassal states of China (such as Vietnam, Siam and Malacca). Naval control of China over the South China Sea also started in this period. At one time the Ming Emperor Young Le even appointed a governor called Ko Cha-lao in 1405 to rule Luzon during Admiral Zheng He’s epic sea voyages although his governance was short-lived after the death of Yong Le emperor and the Ming Court became disinterested in the land. Some of the islands in the South China Sea still have territorial stone plagues left by the navy of the Ming dynasty. Ironically such control was precipitated by the rampant Chinese pirates at the time which, in cooperation with Japanese pirates, infested the South China Sea and the coast of China which in turn brought the Ming navy in to control that region. In 1844, 1867 and 1889 the British sent expedition forces to survey South China Sea. Germany did the same in 1883. They were met with strong protests from the Qing Government. In the late 19th Century, France and China entered into the Sino-French war over Indo-China. The result was China agreed to cede Vietnam (then still a vassal state of China) to France which then became its protectorate. In 1887 under the Sino-French Treaty the border of China and Vietnam was ascertained by the joint border commission which did not include the Paracel and Spratly Islands into Vietnamese territory. Soon after the Sino-French Treaty, the French colonial government in Vietnam sough to lay claim to Paracel Islands on the basis of the historical presence of Vietnamese fishermen on those islands. To counter the demand, in May 1909 a fleet of 3 fully armed warships led by the Qing Admiral of Guangdong province, Li Zhun "李准" , made an official survey of all the islands and atolls of Paracel Islands and other islands in the South China Sea and compiled a report to the Qing court with 8 proposals of further exploit the resources of the islands. His proposal was approved. Before implementation, however, the Qing court collapsed in 1911. However after 1911 the Republic of China continued to administer the Paracel and Spratly Islands by granting licenses to exploit guano and other resources. After the expedition of Li Zhun and the publication of the survey records setting out the islands in the South China Sea as Chinese territories, the then French prime minister Aristide Briand stated on 21 May 1921 that the Chinese sovereignty over Paracel Islands were impossible to dispute: see the book entitled "Security Flashpoints: Oil, Islands, Sea Access and Military Confrontation" edited by Myron Nordquist and John Moore from the University of Virginia, Center for Oceans Law and Policy. In the dawn of WWII, due to the threat of Japan to the British and French colonies in Indo-China, the French landed a force on Xisha (Paracel) and Nansha (Spratly) in 1931 and later in 1933 to prevent the Japanese from using them as outposts against Vietnam. The Chinese government protested and reserved its rights on both occasions but was otherwise powerless to take action due to the civil war and the Japanese invasion at the time. But in 1939 Japan threw out the French and annexed the two island groups as their colonies and renamed them Shinnam Gunto (New Southern Islands) and incorporated them under the Taiwan administration (which was then ruled by Japan). When France protested, Japan said that as they were in war with China they could annex China's territories, Note that in 1939 the Philippines was still a colony of the US. And Malaysia was under British rule. Japan did not go to war with the US and Britain until December 1941. If the islands the Japanese occupied were part of the territories of the Philippines or Malaysia (or Brunei), the US and Britain would surely have declared war against Japan as early as 1939. But they did not even raise a word of protest. This throw the “inheritance” theory of the Philippines and Malaysia out of the window. After Japan's defeat and unconditional surrender in 1945, Japan had to give up all the islands it stole from China 'by violence and greed' under the Potsdam Declaration, which formed part of the Japanese Instrument of Surrender signed in September 1945. In October and November 1946 the Nationalist Government of China repossessed the South China Sea islands (with the help of the US navy), and reiterated its sovereignty over the islands.(including the islands now the Philippines claimed to be theirs), France tried to take Woody island (the largest island in Paracel Islands) from China but failed, and never has it raised any claim again. After a comprehensive survey in 1947 the Republic of China (RoC) then renamed the islands and published in Feb. 1948 an official map called "The Southern China Sea Island Location Map" with the 11 dotted lines around the South China Sea as China's territorial water. There was no protest from any nation. Also in 1947 the Collier's World Atlas and Gazetteer included a map made by Rand McNally entitled "Popular Map of China, French Indochina, Siam and Korea". That map clearly marked Paracel Islands (the one now claimed by Vietnam as its territory) as Chinese territory (with the word China in parenthesis over the islands), and all other islands in the Spratly Islands group (some now claimed by the Philippines) with Chinese names. And none was marked as belonged to the Philippines. Bear in mind that this US map was made in 1947 which was intended to reflect the post WWII territories of the region, it would be very odd indeed if the Rand McNally would have ignored any claim to those Islands if they were “traditionally” part of the Philippines territory, which just got independent from the US the year before under the Treaty of Manila 1946. Rand McNally was a well-established map maker in the US. While its map is not conclusive, it does accurately reflected how the world saw the South China Sea in the immediate post WWII era. In 1948 the People's Republic of China (PRC) took over the government of China and forced the RoC government to flee to Taiwan. In 1951 when the San Francisco conference was held, neither the PRC nor the RoC was invited to attend as there was a dispute as to which government represented China. At the time the then Chinese Premier and Foreign Minister Zhou Enlai made a declaration warning against the participants of the San Francisco Convention that China reaffirmed its sovereignty over the islands in the South China Sea whatever be the outcome of the Convection. Vietnam (then still under French administration) did make a claim in the Convention based on previous occupation by France. But at the end the San Francisco Treaty only included the Japanese renunciation of its claims over the islands without stating to whom they belonged, hence implicitly rejected French Vietnam’s claim. In 1953 the PRC entered into friendly negotiation with Vietnam (the part administered by Viet Ming under Ho Chi Ming who was fighting the French colonial power) and ceded to it part of the sea in Gulf of Tonkin including an island now called Bach Long Vi (with the few Chinese fishermen living on that island told they would became Vietnamese). In the same year the PRC also amended the original 11 dotted lines to 9 by deleting the lines over the Gulf of Token to reflect that friendly arrangement. After the Battle of Dien Bien Phu and the defeat of the French colonial by the Viet Minh, in the Geneva Convention of 1954 Vietnam was formally divided into North Vietnam and South Vietnam. On 4 Sept, 1958, China declared that the breadth of its territorial sea shall be 12nm, and this applied to all of its territories. The declaration included a map which clearly depicted sea borders and sea territories including Paracel and Spratly Islands. North Vietnam published the declaration on the front page of the official Nhan Dan newspaper on 6 Sept. Then on 14 September 1958, North Vietnam’s Prime Minister Pham Van Dong wrote a diplomatic note to Premier Zhou Enlai which stated that: "We would like to inform you so that you may be clear that the Government of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam has noted and support the September 4, 1958 declaration by the People’s Republic of China regarding territorial waters of China. The government of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam respects this decision and will direct the proper government agencies to respect absolutely the 12 nautical mile territorial waters of China in all dealings with the People’s Republic of China on the sea. We would like to send our sincere regards." This diplomatic note was published on the official Nhan Dan newspaper on 22 Sep 1958. The Philippines, which became independent in 1946, also did not object to China's 11 dotted line declaration published in 1948 nor the subsequent 4 Sept 1958 declaration. That is little wonder since the territorial limits (including its territorial sea) of the Philippines are in fact defined in Article III of the Treaty of Paris 1898 when the Spanish sold the Philippines and its other overseas possession to the US for US$20,000,000. That is the same territory when the US ratified the Treaty of Manila in 1946 when the Philippines gained its independence. Anyone who cares to read Article III will find that the territory sea boundary lines do not include any of the islands/atolls in the South China Sea claimed by China. Two other treaties before the Philippines became independent, namely the Cession Treaty 1900 (which dealt with the territories of Cagayan, Sulu and Sibutu) and the Boundaries Treaty of 1930 (which delimited the boundary between the State of North Borneo and the Philippines) did not affect the Paracel or Spratly Islands claimed by China at all. In 1971 President Marcos of the Philippines announced a claim over 53 islands in part of the Spratly Island group and named them the Kalayaan Island Group purportedly on the basis of terra nullius (prior to that the group of islands were declared by a Filipino freak called Tomas Cloma to be his own independent country). RoC immediately sent a diplomatic note of protest on 12 July 1971 to Manila, which protest was seconded by PRC even though the two were still in hostility. At the same time South Vietnam also issued a protest based on its own claim: See the book: Contest for the South China Sea by Marwyn Samuels published in 1982. President Marcos forcefully purchased the "Free Territory of Freedomland" (i.e. Kalayaan islands), from Tomas Cloma for one peso (after imprisoning him for several months) in 1974. Then on 11 June 1978 Marcos issued a presidential decree no. 1596 and annexed the Kalayaan Island Group as a municipality under Palawan province and sent human settlement on the largest island there. In the international context, the legal basis Marco's decree was not recognized by China or Vietnam and the islands remain in dispute. In 1974, China and South Vietnam broke into military conflict over Paracel Islands. It ended with a decisive victory for China. After South Vietnam was annexed by North Vietnam in 1975, however, Vietnam and China fell out as the former was trying to extend its influence over all of Indo-China, sided sought help from Russia, which was then in serious border dispute with China. In 1979 a war broke out between Vietnam and China. Since then Vietnam went back on its position and annexed some islands in the South China Sea. In 1988 a mini sea war broke out between China and Vietnam over the Spratly Islands ending with a decisive victory for China. Yet today Vietnam has obtained the benefit of over 1 billion bbls of oil produced from the sea it occupied. China has not even built any oil well in the area occupied by China so as not to escalate tension. Malaysia annexed 6 features in 1979, twenty-two years after its independence from the British who never handed them any such island/atolls in the South China Sea. The islands, reefs and atolls it now occupies is now increased to 14. Brunei only claim the Louisa reef, which is also contested by Malaysia and China. Hence it can clearly be seen that the claims by Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei are all of recent origins. After WWII and before the 1970s, no one disputed China's claims to the islands in the South China Sea. And before WWII, only the French and Japanese did but they have since raised no claim. UNCLOS is the law which many claimed China should be subject. However anyone who actually reads its provisions will find that it is the sea law which seeks to settle certain issues over open sea resources. It does not determine sovereignty issues, in particular what is the “baseline” against which the sea territory and EEZ were measured. In any event when China rectified the UNCLOS in 1996, it expressly declared that its accession was subject to its sovereignty over the islands in the South China Sea as well as Diaoyu Islands. Such declarations are not unique as many member nations also made their own declarations. The UNCLOS was hence studded with more exceptions than rules. In 2006 China further declared under Article 298 of UNCLOS that the jurisdiction of the tribunal set up under the UNCLOS was excluded from any dispute with China. That is not something exceptional as a long list of countries also wholly or partially excluded the jurisdiction of the international tribunal e.g. Australia, Canada, Denmark, Ecuador etc. However it seems that the UNCLOS is now being used by some nations to justify extending rights into territories which did not belong to them before by the concept of Exclusive Economic Zone created in UNCLOS. What they forgot was EEZ did not extend sovereignty, but to regulate right based on their original sovereignties, which the UNCLOS provides no answer. So an instrument of peace has now been distorted and used as a justification for aggression. Since the turn of the century China had extended invitation to enter talks among parties in dispute over the South China Sea. But with the interference with the US, any talk between the disputed parties are not possible. Yet ironically the US has not even ratified the UNCLOS because its provisions are against the US interest over its “extended continental shelf” claim which translates to hundreds of billions of dollars in royalties over oil exploration off Alaska. Hence when the US calls for China to settle the dispute of the South China Sea in accordance with International Law (which many in the web support), it is not clear which international law the US is talking about - UNCLOS (which does not apply to determine sovereignty issues and which US does not itself ratify) or some US home-made international law based on the "customary law of the sea" made by the colonial powers, to which China never subscribed. In the absence of any applicable law, the issue can only be resolved by force or by bilateral talk. China and Malaysia prefer the latter. Vietnam seems to favour the former as it has been engaged continuously in island building in SCS for decades. The Philippines? I am not quite sure as it insists any talks must involve its US military protector or based on the UNCLOS law which does not even apply.

[@julreyacademia9484]

+chiupo lini i do remember that China claims this island during the MING dynasty well Ming dynasty is Mongolian Dynasty holding your Chinese neck during this time then owner is the Mongolians so back off China let us talk with the Mongolian Govt.

[@chiupolini]

+Jul Rey Academia Wrong. Mind Dynasty simply patrolled the South China Sea. At that time no one had the idea of "claiming" over the ocean because everyone was still in the middle ages. Secondly, wrong again that it was the Mongolian which was holding the Chinese neck in the Ming Dynasty. The Mongolian was beaten back to stone age by the Ming emperor, and their empire was in disarray. It was the Chinese that was holding the Mongolian neck in so far as that part which were not then already assimilated in to China. The period you referred to about Mongolian holding the Chinese neck was in the Southern Sung Dynasty. Get your history right, then you may come back to talk about the history claim of China.

[@jamesng5083]

+chiupo lini IT'S SO IMPRESSIVE FOR THE CHINA'S PROPAGANDA. fuuuck liars. then everyone on the world will piss on your face. how much money they pay for that thing?

[@chiupolini]

James Ng Free. Because it is called facts and you can verify them everywhere on the web and in all major libraries if you care to search. And you can piss everywhere whenever you find them. Just remember to take off your pants and not just wet yourself in bed.

[@bangbaco2690]

To have peace in the region is to respect everyone........But its too late China has claimed some reefs in West Phils Sea.....

[@eijikenji7149]

Bang Baco philippine must return those occupied reef,shoal, island back to original owner, CHINA only then, peace would returned to ASIA.

[@pheterphan9915]

eiji kenji Fuck You!..who say's and agrees that China owned those areas...your own historical records which has no bases....your Gov't lied to you...they just want to cover your country's eminent financial downfall,,,they need those waters to gain that 5 trillion dollars which passes those sealanes and oils and natural gas deposits to stabilize your energy...Your leader's are so greedy that they have no respect for it's neighbors...After those territories,,who's next,,TAIWAN and VIETNAM w/c you considered as Renegade or breakaway states,,,or us here in the PHILS.? But sorry to disappoint you,,Your Gov't will Utterly Fail..!!..the rest of the world now know, what is China's Leaders true color and intention's,,!....YOUR GOV'T SHAMED CHAIRMAN DENG and those who have faith in him and destroy his(Deng Xiaoping) vision of a Greater China who is respectful in co existing not only to it's neighbors but to the rest of the world as well.....

[@kenjile24]

+eiji kenji same question for you, read the question i write in reply to chiupo lini.

[@arminandreibaldoza5423]

The argument articulated regarding paracel islands is not the interest the Philippines. The Philippines interested in trying to adjudicate the 9 dash line that encroeached sovereign and jurisdictional claim of the Philippines. To coorect your claim sir, there are three regions that China claims territorial jurisdiction based on historical claims.. 1) Paracel islands- disputed by China and Vietnam, 2) Scarbourough Shoal region- disputed by China(450NM from Hainan island), Taiwan (350NM from formosa) and the Philipines (150NM from mainland) and 3) The Spratly Islands - multi disputed by nations in Asean including China. Misguided by historical facts.. fishing is not only the livelihood that the chinese can monopolize and fishing is a worldwide livelihood since time immemorial. Historical facts that the Malay race has been fishermen before history was written and therefore the Philippines being a Malay race by origin are fishermen in their own right and since the spratlys and scarborough region is nearer the Philippines, hence we by history's common wisdom had been with these region more than any other nations. Maps of China 5000 years only shows Hainan island. Nobody can claim a rock on the sea that its their's simply because its inhabitable.. everyone will laugh at someone who claims a rock or a reef as theirs. ISLANDS are formed naturally throught time and reclaiming it by modern technology equipment to FORM or MAKE or BUILD and island is absurd to substantiate a historical rights. Tell that to Columbus, during his time, that claiming a new world on a rock or reef is worst that claiming the world is round. hahahaha! I agree that the RES or property is jurisdictional it is against the whole world, a concept of laws used by nations on laws on property. In this case, territorial sovereignity over maritime rights are two different aspects of modern world. Borders are created inland while navigational rights are created through the UNCLOS. A deep analysis is that creating an absurd 9 dash line whether 50 or 100 years ago is not acceptable.. why? the basis is that fishermen developed the islands or governments/nations by mere historical rights or title over it are based on records.. presented to claim it but opposed by historical claims by other nations based on their own records. Now, historical claims are sides of a coin.. who presents a better historical facts will win. Hmmmmmmm... Or common wisdom suggest that the nearest main islands over these disputed areas has a more historical claim? there are no aircraft carriers nor speed boats 1000 years ago. fishing expeditions a longtime ago is not an invasionary force to claim or annex an island and to laugh at a ROCK or REEF on a sea. Invade that Rock abd claim it for China? is that the concept of international law... hmmmm. it would be... China has its first international case.

[@brianzhang2315]

don't understand his theory. south china sea, or west Philippine, east Vietnam sea is not whole asia problem. many asia countries have nothing to do with that body of water. the bottom line is vietnam need help from asian countries and usa.

[@missingmydadbernardo]

For those who are boycotting made in China products. Good news. Panasonic factory is leaving China because of less demand in lithium battery. Keep up the good work.

[@ferdinandmillendez5875]

Tayo sanang Filipino ay magkaisa at ipaglaban ang mga isla natin,lalo Na ang mga mayayaman Na may pera Na pwedeng gamitin Para maglungsad Ng hakbang Na anyayain ang mega pinoy Na mahihirap magdemonstrador laban Sa china,

[@baupham8477]

Vietnamese people we call request China stop the behavior unruly, need to be negotiated countries concerned in front of the international public opinion to clarify all the sovereignty in the region waters, that's shown all history proofs of VIETNAM, and respect sovereignty all area waters islands as well as the reefs belong to Vietnam' s sovereignty of our requirements China go to terminate stop the provocations in the region disputed of all countries in the waters Asia, as well as to withdraw immediately activities are fostering built on the archipelago of Vietnam, and vessels fishing of the Chinese people are illegal logging on the waters under the sovereignty of VIETNAM and also immediate stoped attack actions the innocent Vietnamese fishing vessels people, pleased !, that's China has been violated seriously international law. 越南平民我们所说的请求中国去终止的行为不羁的入侵、 需要多边谈判面临在前面的国际舆论澄清所有的主权在水域亚洲、 越南人民将带来的所有的历史证据的水域属于越南、 和主权所有在该地区的岛屿以及珊瑚礁的主权我国越南、 要求中国去终止停止挑衅在有争议的领域是利用吸积的其他国家在亚洲水域、 以及恢复立即活动非法采伐上所有领域水域、 是促进以及建立在群岛的越南、 和渔船的中国是利用非法的水域下的主权的越南、 也立即停止罢工行动渔船的无辜的越南人、 高兴。 ！ 、 这是中国已经受到严重违反国际法。

[@aduanhijaumalaysia5810]

9 dash lines was agreed by Northern Vietnam governed in 1958 . Vietnam has little reason to deny it now , as it was published by its own government in its own school text books at that time. That is why Vietnam has refused China's challenge in World Court recently. Vietnam's claim is the weakest among all .

[@inouelenhatduy]

no it not stop lying you fake Malaysian Chinese who try to be muslim Malaysian ,there no 9 dashline shit on the paper + also try to take our island this time , It wont be a walk like last time , this time we will still lost , but we will give you a bloody nose and tons of mine in south china sea ,are china willing to pay that price ? + also it will ruin china face in the world lol , it will be like tet 1968 on sea :)

[@inouelenhatduy]

best solution is no war , but south east Asian country don't fear china , let be real , we gona lost for sure , but are you guy willing paying the cost that the big question south east asia of now day is no t the same of 1974/88 lol

[@missingmydadbernardo]

Historically, beyond thousands of years, beyond colonization of islands by foreign countries, The Malays, Filipinos ancestors are the first to navigate the south China Sea. The Malays blood line migrate to the Philippines and across the pacific region. If China is fighting sovereign rights through their historical rights, Philippines can challenge their history with history.

[@villamorballon9261]

Then why can't you defend your history in international court?

[@covertfeelings8330]

@@villamorballon9261 because we aren't stupid and fanatics like the CCP is with China's "historical" rights and we based everything on UNCLOS which CHINA, along with other nations, signed/ratified on it.

[@yktam007]

According to American printed World Atlas, the islands China claimed are China's territories. Except they destroy the Atlas in United states national library

[@bountpathammavong9275]

+Yk Tam so what They should be Atlas somewhere out there in the World.

[@yktam007]

+Bount Pathammavong You don't know that, American changed the mind ever since WII, even they handed so called Okinawa to Japan. According to Cairo Declaration, Okinawa should be returned to her original people under Taiwanese (ROC) ADMINISTRATION, not return to Japan who invaded it . Go to get the map!

[@kevinlyncon5358]

Truth is in the range of cannon not on the negotiating table ,British ,Americans and Germans have proved this principle many times .I think it still is the basic jungle law in the eventful world .

[@qfiver1547]

There sholud be no dispute. The post WW2 world order is clearly stipulated in the two declarations in Cairo (1943) and Potsdam (1945). The problem arises now when some states, the US in particular, do not honour their words and legal documents on which they have signed.

[@rickymabag1334]

Don't say that you are a super power and that you can dominate small countries maybe you will blame in the end

[@velindarockello]

The sea of navigation, no one can claim their sovereign rights, theres a law of the sea, unless they execise their rights to participate and cooperate in the UNCLOS,, and heard their decision making ...

[@aczbdk]

PRC should first set an example by giving the land back to ROC, after that perhaps others will follow and give those islands back to ROC. ;)

[@chiupolini]

aczbdk There is no dispute between RoC and PRC that those islands belong to China.And the world recognizes that Taiwan is part of China. Period.

[@aczbdk]

chiupo lini You sounded just like those corrupted HK government officials who are kissing commie's shoes. China is just a region name, it is not a country and has no territorial rights. CCP stole the land from ROC and established PRC in 1949, PRC have nothing to do with those islands. You can't cry like a baby and say those islands are yours ok. XD

[@chiupolini]

aczbdk Child's talk.

[@aczbdk]

chiupo lini so that's your best reply? XD 輸佐仲死要面.

[@chiupolini]

aczbdk Declaring oneself as a victor when the adult is paying him no attention - I have seen that in Hong Kong kindergarten. I did not know that this practice was also popular in Taiwan secondary schools.

[@Tsnore]

Pinoy kayo, Pinoy ako.

[@dbec5224]

Most learned experts would agree that the philipines owns the territorial waters here with perhaps Vietnam having some claim as Vietnam was colonized by Africans quite some time before the philipines were.

[@dbec5224]

can you ask someone to write that in English for you little boy.

[@guardiandemonx7936]

D Bec if u cant understand my english then u need to go back to schoool kid, cuz you're a dumbass, this is youtube not a english class so i dont have to use proper grammar, u have a lot of time in your hands to type all of those properly, have u never heard of short hand writing ?

[@dbec5224]

a little improvement, are you Mexican ?, And yes I have heard and used shorthand and it looks nothing like ordinary typing I suggest you look it up and you will realise how stupid your reverence to it is LOL LOL LOL.

[@blueboxvaccine5335]

UNCLOS...

[@eijikenji7149]

there are territorial dispute between vietnam and philippine why philippine does not confront Vietnam?

[@pheterphan9915]

eiji kenji It is not a DISPUTE,,,,what vietnam and the Phils, are claims and counter claims and the beauty of those claims is that both countries respected each other and shared a common goal of resolving this claims through peaceful means and not stepping the other's foot...

[@chiupolini]

Jojo Menardo Bull shit. You just happen to have found a common enemy in China. If China withdraws, you two guys will soon start fighting.

[@pheterphan9915]

chiupo lini No we WON"T...i assure you that..coz we are more human that CHINA...we are not greedy as you are,,,we can share those area under U.N. rule and mandate,,i think Vietnam can live with that...

[@chiupolini]

Jojo Menardo Naive. China helped Vietnam to defeat the French in their war of independence. China also helped North Vietnam to unite the country in 1975 at a time when China was still a very poor country. See how the Vietnamese are now treating the Chinese? You trust the Vietnamese and you will be screwed.

[@pheterphan9915]

chiupo lini CHINA help VIETNAM and later Attack them..and soon plan to annex it to the mainland coz you we're told that it is part of CHINA..in fact, if i am not mistaken.,,the term ur gov't used is 'RENEGADE PROVINCE" like TAIWAN.... SO,KILLING those vietnamese in cold BLOOd over those waters( 60 ) sailors i believe justify's e'thing coz you said that those waters are your and yours alone...!!!..BULLSHIT!!!..tell it to MAO ZEDONG.!!!.

[@obsidianstatue]

30 March 1939: Spratlys. Japan occupies, annexes and renames the Spratly Islands "Shinnan Shoto "(New Southern Islands) and places them under the Governor-General of Formosa. Later, the IJN establishes a seaplane base and a submarine base at Itu Aba (Nagashima -"Long Island") the largest of the Spratly Islands japan occupied the Spratly and Paracel islands in March 1939. in 1939 pinoys are still an American colony, if as you say Spratly is part of pinoy banana land then how can the japanese occupy the territory of an American colony in 1939 two fucking YEARS BEFORE Pearl Harbor and the war between USA and Japan?? go have a google search for yourself in march 1939 the only country that was at war with japan was China. NOT the pinoys or the Americans.

[@blueboxvaccine5335]

SALUS POPULI EST SUPREMA LEX!

[@khanhdopham6930]

His scent so funny

[@tonyruzek8530]

U miu thzeee, hiu hung zeee, lol Couldn't get even one sentence that guy said :(

[@casey7057]

SOUTH CHINA SEA IS SOUTH CHINA SEA. WHOEVER GIVES THIS NAME IS FAR SIGHTED ENOUGH TO KNOW THAT THIS SEA BELONGS TO CHINA. WHY DIDN'T HE GAVE THE NAME WEST PHILLIPINES SEA OR ANY OTHER NAMES? SURELY THERE MUST BE SOME TRUTH IN IT.

[@mikulzki]

A name does not necessarily constitute ownership, If we were going to consider your absurd logic then, it is safe to say that the whole Indian ocean belongs to India.

[@fallsky5731]

Joyce Lau Lee See So INDIAN OCEAN belongs to India ? ....,haha hilariuos...you should re-start your elementary school

[@villamorballon9261]

Wow!!!!!! somebody deleted my comments.....Chinese trolls?