The South China Sea dispute began in the 70s of the last century, Vietnam also clearly recognized China's territorial sovereignty over the Nansha Islands before 1975, and countries such as the Philippines and Malaysia did not have any legal documents or leaders' speeches before 1970 that their territorial scope included the Nansha Islands, and according to the provisions of the Paris and Washington treaties, the Philippine territory is located east of the 118 degrees east longitude line and does not include the mainland South China Sea, and even in the 1990s, the official map of the Philippines accurately marked Scarborough Shoal and other South China Sea islands and reefs belong to China.
Official map of the Philippines in the 1990s (crosshairs are borders)
After Japan's defeat in World War II, according to the Cairo Declaration, "the territories stolen by Japan from China, such as the four northeastern provinces, Taiwan, and the Penghu Islands, shall be returned to the Republic of China." ”
At that time, the Nanhai Zhudao occupied by Japan was, of course, part of the territory stolen from China by Japan, and was also returned to China, but it was the Republic of China that was returned, not to the current People's Republic of China.
On October 25, 1971, before the 26th session of the United Nations General Assembly restored the legitimate seat of the People's Republic of China, the Kuomintang authorities who fled to Taiwan did not have the heart to navigate the South China Sea, and the two sides of the strait were in a state of confrontation.
On October 25, 1971, the representative of Taiwan at the 26th session of the United Nations General Assembly awkwardly withdrew from the venue
Proceeding from international legal principles and evidence, the issue of Taiwan's return to the South China Sea has been resolved by more than half. During the most critical period after World War II, Taiwan was the de facto controller of Nanhai Zhudao, and the Xisha Islands and Nansha Islands were recovered by the fleet sent by the Nationalist Government, and Taiwan has been an ally of the United States for a long time, so it is conducive to proving that Nanhai Zhudao is the inherent territory of the mainland, including a large number of documents recognized by mainstream Western society, and images, photographs and written records of the recovery process of islands and reefs are in the hands of the Taiwan authorities.
More importantly, until now, the Taiwan authorities are still stationed on Taiping Island, the largest natural island in the Nansha Islands, and many precious documents and evidence have also been retained on Taiping Island, but it is a pity that the Taiwan authorities now have no desire for Nanhai Zhudao, and recently there are Taiwan reporters who have boarded Philippine ships to invade the waters near the Nansha Iron Line Reef and accuse the PLA of defending their rights together with the Philippine station.
Of course, the South China Sea dispute cannot be resolved by international law, and the biggest crux of the South China Sea dispute is the occupation of a large number of important islands and reefs, and from this point of view, the greatest threat to China is undoubtedly Vietnam and the Philippines, because Vietnam has invaded 29 Nansha islands and reefs on the mainland, and the Philippines has occupied 8 Nansha islands and reefs.
The topography of the South China Sea and some key islands and reefs
Although Malaysia has also occupied five Nansha islands and reefs, but the comprehensive conditions of the Nansha islands and reefs occupied by Malaysia are relatively poor, and they are very concentrated, and the concentration of these islands and reefs together means that the area of the controlled sea area is not large, and the Nansha islands and reefs occupied by Vietnam and the Philippines are not only in superior conditions and reasonably distributed, especially Vietnam, which controls a huge sea area, and has also formed a fatal threat to the mainland through continuous expansion.
As far as the invaded islands and reefs in the Spratly Islands are concerned, even the most naïve people will not think that the other countries will take the initiative to return them, and the only way to recover these islands and reefs is war, and before there is war, expanding more islands and reefs in the South China Sea for production and construction, expanding more military bases, making military deployments, and controlling uninhabited islands and reefs that have not been invaded will become the best choice.
From the perspective of effective jurisdiction and military deployment, China needs to build Zhongjian Island and Huangyan Dao, and it is not difficult to find that Zhongjian Island and Huangyan Dao are located at key points along the coasts of Vietnam and the Philippines, which occupy the most islands and reefs in China's Nansha Islands.
If these two islands are built well, not only will they have a solid foundation on the east and west sides of the South China Sea discontinuity line, but will also have a huge deterrent effect on Vietnam and the Philippines, and will surely become the key to China's solution to the South China Sea issue.
Location map of Zhongjian Island and Scarborough Shoal
Zhongjian Island is located in the westernmost part of the Xisha Islands, with an area of about 1.2 square kilometers, and the island is garrisoned by the People's Liberation Army.
Satellite image of Zhongjian Island
Satellite image of Zhongjian Island
In the past, Zhongjian Island was a desert island with no grass, due to the extremely high surface temperature, frequent typhoons and snow-white gravel reflection, Zhongjian Island was also known as Fire Island, Wind Island and Sand Island.
As a result of the unremitting efforts of the officers and men stationed on the island, there is now a large green forest in the northwest of the island, and the barracks are surrounded by green trees, flocks of chickens and ducks, and seasonal vegetables in the vegetable fields of the three defenses have often become a common landscape.
Green vegetation that spreads to the edge of the island
Not long ago, foreign media reported that Zhongjian Island is building a large airport, but judging from satellite images and wind direction in the South China Sea, the ongoing infrastructure construction does not include an airport.
Zhongjian Island under construction
Zhongjian Island under construction
Although it is impossible to judge from satellite images what kind of infrastructure is being built on Zhongjian Island, there is no doubt that Zhongjian Island is undergoing large-scale infrastructure construction, and the strategic value of Zhongjian Island will be further strengthened after the completion of this batch of infrastructure.
The biggest challenge now is Scarborough Shoal, which is a large triangular atoll, about 15 kilometers long from east to west, about 15 kilometers wide from north to south, with an area of about 150 square kilometers, but most of the reefs of Scarborough Shoal are reefs, not natural islands, although China has actually controlled the island in 2012, but there is no direct garrison, so the construction of Scarborough Shoal is extremely challenging.
Aerial photograph of Scarborough Shoal
After all, the United States and the Philippines have signed the "U.S.-Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty," and the United States is emboldened by US aircraft carriers and submarines swaying around Scarborough Shoal all year round.
Since February this year, the Philippines has been provoking in the waters near Scarborough Shoal, and relevant reports show that the Philippines has sent ships to invade Scarborough Shoal more than 10 times, and even dispatched small planes to try to fly over the scarborough shoal lagoon.
China is facing frequent naval and air provocations from the United States and the Philippines in the waters off Scarborough Shoal, and patrols alone are far from enough, and the garrison is equivalent to a showdown, which shows that Scarborough Shoal is undoubtedly the biggest challenge among China's islands in the South China Sea.
[Please do not copy and reprint without permission]