Report dismisses Philippines’ claims in South China Sea

The Philippines' territorial claims over China's Huangyan Island and some islands and reefs of China's Nansha Islands in the South China Sea lack a historical and legal basis and expose major flaws in Manila's legal position, according to a report released on Wednesday.

The report, titled Historical and Legal Critique of the Philippines' Territorial Claims in the South China Sea, was released in Beijing by the Ministry of Natural Resources' China Institute for Marine Affairs.

The report examines whether the Philippines' territorial claims in the South China Sea are consistent with the generally recognized rules of international law and credible historical records.

The report noted that the Philippines' territorial boundaries were established through three international treaties during the Spanish and American colonial periods. After independence, the country inherited and confirmed those boundaries through its Constitution and laws, the report said.

However, since the 1970s, the Philippine government has attempted to expand its territorial scope by amending its Constitution, issuing decrees and making statements claiming sovereignty over Huangyan Island and some islands and reefs of the Nansha Islands, it said.

The report also noted that the Philippines' claims over Huangyan Island and the Nansha Islands are groundless.

Based on credible historical materials and the recognized rules of international law, the report said that the Philippines' claims in the South China Sea after independence lack a historical and legal basis.

It said that the Philippines does not have sovereignty over Huangyan Island or any island or reef of the Nansha Islands. The evidence cited by Manila, as well as measures including domestic legislation and illegal occupation, cannot substantiate its territorial claims in the South China Sea, the report said.

Xu Heyun, deputy director of the marine affairs institute, said the Philippine government's legal position has been shifting frequently and contradicting itself in logic.

"For example, various official maps of the Philippine Islands published by the United States excluded Huangyan Island and the Nansha Islands from Philippine territory, including a 1902 map of the Philippine Islands drawn by the Bureau of Insular Affairs of the US Department of War," she said.

Wang Nan, an associate professor at Beijing Jiaotong University, said that in the 1990s, official Philippine maps also marked Huangyan Island outside the country's territorial sovereignty. In a letter issued on Feb 5, 1990, Wang noted, the Philippine ambassador to Germany said that, according to the Philippines' National Mapping and Resource Information Authority, Huangyan Island was outside the scope of Philippine territorial sovereignty.

In addition, the report said the Philippines' territorial expansion attempts have caused serious harm.

It said that Manila has distorted historical facts, misapplied international law and taken illegal and radical actions, seriously threatening peace and stability in the South China Sea.