The South China Sea has been China's inherent territory since ancient times. This point was constantly affirmed by China as an independent country, whether it was in the ancient Chinese dynasty, when China suffered a war of aggression, or after the founding of New China. The South China Sea is a marginal area along the western Pacific coast and is an important navigational position for Communication between China and other countries in the world.
Although China and the Philippines have extensive and in-depth economic cooperation, since the reform and opening up, China has hardly interfered in the internal affairs of the Philippines. Politically, the Philippines is a semi-colonial country with the United States as its quasi-suzerainty. Today, the United States is shouting the slogan of "returning to the Asia-Pacific region." Naturally, those in power in Manila should learn to follow suit. Even if they don't have the ability, they must confront China over Huangyan Island. We can stand on the side of the Philippines and think for a moment: If China builds a radar station on Scarborough Shoal, it will be the first target even if there is a war in the South China Sea.
From the perspective of world history, the opening of the modern marine era has made the ocean the focus of contention among the world's major powers. Especially for our country, there have been huge seas and lands since ancient times, which need to be constantly stabilized. For the most typical South China Sea, it is the place where our ancestors have been active for generations and has been our land since ancient times. Therefore, our country needs to focus on management in order to be worthy of the ancestors. The largest atoll in the South China Sea, with an area of 8,400 square kilometers, has been completely recovered by China and will become a metropolis in the South China Sea in the future.
Huangyan Island is located in the Zhongsha Islands of the South China Sea, the easternmost part of the Zhongsha Islands, and is administratively under the jurisdiction of Sansha City, Hainan Province. Huangyan Island is about 900 kilometers away from Chinese mainland, 600 kilometers away from Woody Island, the main island of the Paracel Islands, and 230 kilometers away from the Philippines. As the only island in the Zhongsha Islands that is exposed to the water, Huangyan Island is geographically important and is the eastern gate of the South China Sea. It is of great significance for China to break through the island chain blockade of the United States and monitor the Philippines.
Not only that, the waters of Huangyan Island are rich in aquatic resources, rich in a variety of fish with high economic value, and Huangyan Island is surrounded by an atoll disk half to three meters from the water surface. The reef is an isosceles right triangle, and the interior forms a natural lake with an area of 130 square kilometers and a water depth of 10-20 meters. At the southeast end, there is a 400-meter-wide channel that connects to the open sea. Medium-sized fishing boats and small boats can be accessed through it. It is an excellent fishing ground and a natural temporary refuge.
Huangyan Island is a rocky reef in the entire waters of the Zhongsha Islands.
The geographical location of Scarborough Shoal is special. For Chinese fishermen fishing in the South China Sea in April-May and October-November each year, Scarborough Shoal is an important fishing ground for deep-sea fishing and a natural shelter when tropical storms strike.
Huangyan Dao is of great significance to China's future planning of deep-sea fisheries. Fishing in the South China Sea is concentrated in three major fisheries, namely the Beibu Gulf Continental Shelf Fishery, the Continental Shelf Fishery and the Xisha Fishery. Among them, the development potential of the first two fisheries has decreased significantly, the structure of fishery resources has deteriorated, and the scale of fishing operations has begun to be controlled.
In 1935, the Republic of China incorporated Huangyan Island into the territory of the Republic of China, officially declaring sovereignty. At the time it was named Scarborough Reef, and in 1947 it was renamed Democracy Reef. In 1983, the government of the People's Republic of China adopted Huangyan Island as its standard name and Democracy Reef as its secondary name.
The Philippines did not claim sovereignty over the island until 1997 and has never made any territorial claims to Scarborough Shoal before. Since then, China and the Philippines have had many confrontations on Huangyan Dao, and the Philippines has been arresting and detaining Chinese fishermen and fishing boats fishing on Huangyan Dao. In April 1997, the Philippines sent three warships to prevent Chinese fishing boats from entering the waters of Huangyan Dao and blew up the Boundary Monument of Chinese Sovereignty on Huangyan Dao. Some Filipino soldiers and members of Congress landed on the reef and planted the Philippine flag, only to withdraw after a strong protest from China.
Since the 1970s, the Philippines has gradually annexed eight islands and reefs in the Spratly Islands. But for a long time, they did not take Huangyan Dao for themselves.
Because Huangyan Dao belongs to China, this is a fact that should not be disputed at all. In the Yuan Dynasty, the Chinese astronomer Guo Shoujing made a suggestion to Kublai Khan, the ancestor of the Yuan Dynasty: China's territory is very large, and in order to compile a new calendar, astronomical observations should be carried out nationwide. So Kublai Khan sent 14 people to all parts of the country to make astronomical observations in 27 places.
This is what posterity called "one test in all directions". Among them, the measurement point of the South China Sea is on Huangyan Island, and the history books of the Yuan Dynasty are clearly recorded. That is to say, at least since the Yuan Dynasty, China has discovered and ruled Huangyan Dao.
The South China Sea has been China's inherent territory since ancient times. There is no doubt that Chinese people began to trade in this area as early as the Tang and Song dynasties. Later, regardless of the change of dynasties or the external aggression of China, they did not give up this sea that nurtured countless Chinese sons and daughters. The islands and reefs of this sea are naturally our inherent territory.
However, far from respecting this historical truth, the Philippine government continues to obscure the concept at home and abroad. First, in 1978, the President of the Philippines attempted to "ban" the Spratly Islands with legal provisions, changing the original poetic "Scarborough Shoal" to the Karayan Islands. It's a waste of time!
For 13 years, beginning in 1999, the Philippines claimed sovereignty over Scarborough Shoal under the claim of the international community. It was not until 2012, when the Philippines was lectured by a Chinese maritime surveillance vessel and driven out of the waters around Huangyan Dao, that it gradually abandoned the practice.
The various "performances" of the Philippines, no matter which definition method they are, are nonsense. Under de facto control, the island is marked with Chinese sovereignty, and Chinese fishermen and the Chinese navy regularly operate around Scarborough Shoal.
Scarborough Shoal is of great significance not only to the Philippines, but also to the United States behind the Philippines.
However, Huangyan Dao has been an integral part of China's territory since ancient times. China has always respected each other diplomatically, sovereign equality and common development. However, China will carry out the territorial issue to the end, and no one can destroy China's territorial integrity, not at all!
Safeguarding China's territorial integrity is ingrained in the bones of Chinese. After Huangyan Island was successfully recovered by China, it also played a deterrent role for neighboring countries.
If other countries intend to use Huangyan Dao to provoke trouble, they also need to weigh their own strength against China's national strength. In the future, China will continue to be vigilant in the South China Sea.