A diplomatic cable released by whistle-blowing website
WikiLeaks said China could not specify a historical document to support its
claims to disputed islands in the West Philippine Sea.
In diplomatic cable 08BEIJING3499 sent to Washington by the
US embassy in Beijing on Sept. 9, 2008, 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.
MFA Department of Treaty and Law Oceans and Law of the Sea
Division Deputy Director Yin Wenqiang told a US embassy political officer on
Aug. 30, 2008 that “China has indisputable sovereignty over the islands in the
South China Sea and the adjacent waters.”
“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the ‘Nine Dashes’ and only mentioned unspecified ‘Chinese historical documents’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,” the US embassy official said.
According to Wikileaks, 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specify a historical document that indicated the basis for the demarcation of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.
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Wonder why China thinks these islands should belong to them, eh di ba the islands are closer to Philippines? Tsk.
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