Background information on the paracels and spratlys. The paracels group covers about 18,000 square miles. Chinas sovereignty over the xisha islands and the nansha islands, which were called spratly islands and paracel islands respectively, was challenged by france before world war ii and by the philippines and vietnam after world war ii. The conflict in the south china sea, especially the sovereignty over paracel and spratly islands, is of international interest and significance.
Peaceful settlement of disputes in the south china sea. Chapter i background information on the paracels and spratlys. The government of the socialist republic of viet nam has repeatedly affirmed viet nams sovereignty over the paracel and the spratly islands in diplomatic notes sent to the involved parties, in the statements of the ministry of foreign affairs, and in international meetings including the wmo meeting in geneva june 1980 and in the. Prc offers for its free removal, the vessel remains aground on the reef. Historical documents on vietnams sovereignty over paracel. On april 4, 1939, france objected when japan intended to select a part of the spratly islands to grant autonomy. The affirmation of sovereignty 18th to 19th centuries ch. Chinas claim of sovereignty over spratly and paracel islands. Incorporated into chinas claim is the assertion that many of those subsequent events, including the french colonization of the habitable south china sea in the spratly and paracel islands, were illegitimate and do not negate chinas historical claims catley, 1997. The situation of the archipelagos before the 18th century.
Gendreau in her work, sovereignty over the paracel and spratly islands. It lies about equidistant of 180 miles from danang and hainan island of china and along the hong kongsingapore. Vietnam owns sufficient evidences of its sovereignty over. The dispute is characterised by diplomatic stalemate and the employment of military pressure techniques. Despite the spratly islands naturally consisting of 19 islands see below, according to a chinese 1986 source, the spratly islands consist of 14 islands or islets, 6 banks, 1 submerged reefs, 35 underwater banks and 21 underwater shoals the northeast part of the spratlys is known as dangerous ground and is. Vietnam s position on the sovereignty over the paracels. Chinas claim of sovereignty over spratly and paracel. Rights of sovereignty over the paracel islands further to my letter no. Protect and exercise sovereignty over the paracel and spratly islands after world war ii. It is no doubt that the national geographic society is a trusted and reliable source of important information for many. Competing claims to these resources could result in conflict, which, in turn, could affect the free flow of. Respect vietnams sovereignty over spratly islands, china.
The maritime disputes in the south china sea impact on a series of regional bilateral relations and continue to trouble ties between china and the association of southeast asian nations asean. The indisputable sovereignty of viet nam over the paracel. Download the book in pdf, epub, kindle for a complete version. The paracel and spratly disputes are among the most dangerous maritime disputes in the world today. China, vietnam, malaysia, brunei and the philippines form a crown around it. The spratly islands dispute is an ongoing territorial dispute between china, taiwan, malaysia, the philippines, vietnam, and brunei, concerning ownership of the spratly islands, a group of islands and associated maritime features reefs, banks, cays, etc.
The spratly islands, known to the chinese as the nansha southern sands islands and to the vietnamese as truong sa, lie about 300 miles east of vietnam and 300 miles west of the philippines. Facebook ads creator omits east sea islands in vietnams. The spratly islands dispute is an ongoing territorial dispute between china, taiwan, malaysia. The prc is currently completing an air base on yunghsing island woody island. Recognizing the implications, saigon dispatched frigates hq16, hq4, hq5 and the sealcarrying minesweeper hq10 to robert island. China believed that if the north vietnamese gained control over the paracel islands they. Vietnam has consistently affirmed that it has full legal basis and historical evidence to assert its sovereignty over the paracel and spratly islands. Vietnam rejects chinas sovereignty claims over vietnamese. You are free to use this thesis in any way that is permitted by the. Stanford libraries official online search tool for books, media, journals, databases, government documents and more. The philippines claims are based on sovereignty over the spratlys on the.
The diplomatic note in 1958 did not mention any sovereignty issue and china had sought a way to wrongly interpret it, haid said. Pdf vietnam, territoriality and the south china sea. Viet nam affirms that as between viet nam and china, the 1982 united nations. Note dated 26 november 1928, addressed to the under. The spratly islands were, in 1939, coral islets mostly inhabited by seabirds. Historic context of the hoang sa paracel battle upon withdrawing from indochina, the french administration handed the sovereignty over the two archipelagoes of hoang sa paracel and truong sa spratly to the republic of vietnam rvn in october 1950.
The battle of the paracel islands was a military engagement between the naval forces of china and south vietnam in the paracel islands on january 19, 1974. China seized the paracel islands from south vietnam by force in 1974, and has been illegally occupying a number of reefs in the spratly islands. This article is brought to you for free and open access by the student journals at case. Tehkuang chang, chinas claim of sovereignty over spratly and paracel islands. Separately, in another document, the correct chart of the china sea, published by herbert in 1758, the paracel archipelago was described as a long group of islands and reefs extending from to 17 degrees north, which approximately correspond to the geographic latitudes of the presentday spratly and paracel islands, respectively. The two districts named xisha and nansha use the chinese names for the disputed paracel and spratly islands, respectively, and correspond to those features. France claimed sovereignty over the spratly and paracel islands in.
Vietnams assertion of sovereignty over paracels, spratlys. Chinese involvement in the spratly island dispute in the south china sea. The spratly islands dispute is a regional maritime territorial sovereignty dispute which involves six countries in the south china sea china, taiwan, vietnam, philippines, malaysia and brunei. The spratly islands dispute is an ongoing territorial dispute between china, taiwan, malaysia, the philippines, vietnam and brunei, concerning territorial sovereignty over the spratly islands.
Vietnam asks that china respects its sovereignty and refrain from actions which could escalate tensions, complicate the situation and affect peace and stability in the east sea and the region, as well as efforts of countries in the negotiation process for the south china sea code of. It also made the illegal claim that china has sovereignty over islands in the east sea, including the pratas, spratly and paracel islands and the zhongsa qundao. Chapter iv conclusions and bases for a settlement of the. Vietnam has for several times issued its white papers in 1979, 1981, and 1988 on the sovereignty of vietnam over the paracel and the spratly islands to affirm that these two archipelagos are inseparable territories of vietnam, and that vietnam has full sovereignty over them in accordance with international laws and practice. International law and sovereignty over the paracel and spratly archipelagoes part 14 posted by southeastasiansea. Sovereignty over the paracel and spratly islands by.
Chapter iii subsequent development of the title the turning point of 1884 is an important one for the archipelagos, marking as it does the beginning of the period of french colonization in vietnam and also, coincidentally, the establishment after the congress of berlin of new rules of international law. The other note was sent december 12 last year in response to malaysia. Vietnam, under french colonial rule, carried out many activities to consolidate the sovereignty title to hoang sa paracel and truong sa spratly islands. But most embarrassingly they have failed to bring out when the chinesestate began to take possession of xisha and nansha and how this stateexercised its sovereignty over them. Beijing issued a statement the same day reiterating its indisputable sovereignty over the paracel and spratly islands as well as macclesfield bank, a submerged atoll about 70 nautical miles east of the paracels. Both archipelagos form part of four groups of coral islands scattered over the south china sea.
The spratly islands are claimed by china, taiwan, vietnam, the philippines, malaysia and brunei while the paracels have been controlled by china since 1974. All of the xisha paracel islands are contested among three contenders. France claimed sovereignty over the spratly and paracel islands in the southern china sea islands in an effort to strengthen its claim of sovereignty. This, at the very least, detracts from its capacity to throw light on the current state of play. In the booklet vietnams sovereignty over the hoang sa and truong saarchipelagoes published in september 1979, the ministry of foreign affairs of thesocialist republic. Tran duy hai, then the deputy head of the national border committee, had asserted in june 2014 that vietnam never acknowleged chinas sovereignty over the paracel and spratly islands. The archipelagos sprawl over a sea bounded by many territories. What china calls the zhongsa qundao are the macclesfield bank and the scarborough shoal. Vietnam requests that china respect vietnams sovereignty, cancel wrong decisions that are relevant to such actions, and not repeat similar actions in the future, she said.
Vietnam claims that the following four world war ii basic documents on territorial settlements do not contain any clause contrary to the sovereignty of vietnam over the paracel islands and the spratly islands, to wit. Territorial claims from various countries impact on maritime freedom and result in the exploitation of natural resources in either international waters or other claimant countries exclusive economic. Taken in tandem, these paracel and spratly islands monographs. China announced saturday the establishment of what it calls the xisha and nansha districts in vietnams paracel and spratly islands. China, taiwan and vietnam, although only china has physically occupied them since 1974. Sovereignty over the paracel and spratly islands book. Pdf the paracel islands dispute has recently resurfaced as a source. Vietnamese position on the sovereignty of the paracels and spratlys the paracels are an archipelago consisting of over 30 islands, islets, and reefs stretching. France claimed sovereignty over the spratly and paracel islands. The united nations have classified the paracel islands as the disputed islands and have never confirmed them belong to neither country.
It was an attempt to enhance sovereignty claims and display chinas. Sovereignty over the paracel and spratley islands chemilliergendreau, monique on. The paracel islands and us interests and approaches in. Sovereignty over the paracel and spratly islands is the translation into english of a work first published in french by harmattan in 1996, but it has not been updated, except for a few bibliographical references.
Sovereignty over the paracel and spratly islands, by. Vietnam rejects chinas distortions in east sea diplomatic. As the paracel and the spratly archipelagos which lay below the 17th parallel were part of the french indochina sincethey were part of south vietnam territory. The major conflict, however, is over two sets of islands. The paracels and spratlys were handed over to republic of china control. The south china sea issue and the united nations convention on the. All activities on the truong sa spratly and hoang sa paracel islands must receive vietnams approval. Who owns the spratly islands in the south china sea. Free download of sovereignty over the paracel and spratly islands by monique chemilliergendreau. China produced a map with sprat,y undefined dotted lines, and claimed all of the islands within those lines. Chapter iv conclusions and bases for a settlement of the dispute. Professor of international law chemilliergendreaus.