http://www.ibtimes.

com/china-philippines-territorial-dispute-ancient-maps-debunk-chinese-claimover-scarborough-1686914
China's newest official map is vertical, and equally displays China's land and sea claims. Hurun
Map Press/ Xinhua
The Philippines has upped the ante in its territorial dispute with China by fighting fire with fire, or
in this case, a map with a map. The Philippines has recently unveiled an exhibit in Manila of 60
ancient maps of Asia that authorities say debunk Chinas claimed "historical ownership" over
disputed areas of the South China Sea, specifically the Scarborough Shoal, located west of the
Philippines.
According to Filipino newspaper The Inquirer, Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Antonio
Carpio said in a public lecture that he hopes the maps, the oldest dating from 1136 during
Chinas Southern Song Dynasty, would finally settle the dispute in the South China Sea in the
Philippines' favor. The cartographic display is also viewable online at the Institute of Maritime and
Ocean Affairs website.
We should respect historical facts, not historical lies, Carpio said. The collection of maps
shows the island of Hainan, Chinas southernmost region, as not including any maritime
territories, particularly the hotly disputed Scarborough Shoal and Spratly Islands.
Chinas claim over the territory, which it calls Huangyan Island, re-emerged in April 2012, after
the Philippines discovered Chinese fishermen engaging in what Manila said was poaching at the
shoal. The discovery eventually led to a tense confrontation between Chinese and Filipino
maritime forces and continues to be a geopolitical point of contention for the two countries. The
Philippines is an ally of the U.S.
Chinas maritime claims extend beyond just the Scarborough Shoal, and even beyond the South
China Sea. China is also embroiled in disputes with Japan in the East China Sea over a cluster of
islands called the Diaoyu in Chinese or Senkaku in Japanese. In the South China Sea, Brunei,
Malaysia, Vietnam and Taiwan all lay claim to different areas that China has also claimed as its
own.
China has been known to use maps in the past as a form of cultural warfare. Earlier this summer,
the Chinese government released a new official vertical map which not only included the
mainland, but also much of the South China Sea.

http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2014/03/philippines-sues-china-over-sea-claims-ninedashed-line--201433055112597830.htm
China's nine-dash line claim encompasses almost 90 percent of the resource-rich South China Sea
[Al Jazeera]
Two years ago, a standoff broke out between the Philippines and China, when Filipino authorities
tried to arrest Chinese fishermen suspected of illegally fishing in the Scarborough Shoal.
China blocked the arrest, sending paramilitary vessels to surround the Philippine patrol ships. The
face-off lasted two months before the US intervened, securing assurances from both sides to
withdraw vessels from the disputed rock formation in the South China Sea. The Philippines left.
China ignored the deal and stayed.
After months of diplomatic wrangling, the Philippines filed a lawsuit on Sunday, challenging
China before a UN court at The Hague. The case questions the validity of China's "nine-dash line"
claim (refering to the line that China puts on maps to justify its claim) and its occupation of
Scarborough. The Philippines argues that the U-shaped boundary, which China set out based on
"historical rights", encroaches on its territory under international law.
There's a lot of political tension and hostility that make cooperation very, very difficult.
- Bonnie Glaser, Center for Strategic and International Studies, Washington DC
"It is about defending what is legitimately ours," Albert del Rosario, the Philippine foreign
minister, told reporters on Sunday. "It is about securing our children's future. It is about
guaranteeing freedom of navigation for all nations. It is about helping to preserve regional peace,
security and stability."
What China claimed as part of its "indisputable sovereignty" covers almost 90 percent of the
South China Sea. It also overlaps the areas claimed by other countries, including the Philippines,
Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia.
On Saturday, the Chinese coastguard attempted to block a Philippine naval vessel from delivering
supplies to a marooned ship in the Second Thomas Shoal. The Chinese warned the vessel to turn
around but were ignored. It was the second incident between the two countries in two weeks in the
Spratlys, south of Scarborough.
To maintain order in the region, countries must abide by the UN Convention on the Law of the
SEA (UNCLOS), senior justice Antonio Carpio said in a speech in Manila. But, he said, China has
disregarded the law which is considered to be the world's constitution on the seas and oceans.
"China is enforcing its claim through its rapidly growing naval fleet," he said. "If left to stand,

China's claim will bring the world back to the turbulent maritime era of 400 years ago, when
nations claimed the oceans and seas through the naval cannon, not through the rule of law."
'Historical rights'
Under UNCLOS, which both China and the Philippines ratified, coastal states like the Philippines
are entitled to a 322km exclusive economic zone (EEZ). Beyond that is considered the high seas,
common to all nations. Scarborough is 220km from the Philippine mainland of Luzon, and 857km
from China's Hainan province.
China claimed that its sailors discovered Scarborough 2,000 years ago, and had fished in the
region as far back as the Song Dynasty from 960 to 1279 AD. China refers to it as Huangyan
Island, while the Philippines calls it Panatag.
In a foreign policy discussion at the University of Southern California, Chinese scholar Shen
Dingli also reiterated China's historical claim over Scarborough and other islands in the region.
"For China, we say our ancestors used to occupy these islands," he said. "So I have this book to
show. Look, and my fishermen used to use the islands to avoid the typhoons. Its all recorded.
"So we consider that a thousand years ago, these people already used this sea lane of
communication for Chinas interests. Therefore, the ancestors of them have the right to claim."
Al Jazeera tried to contact the Chinese Embassy in Manila for comment, but did not receive a
reply. In a statement reported by the state-owned news agency Xinhua, Chinese Foreign Minister
Wang Yi recently said: "China has sufficient historical and legal evidence for its sovereignty over
the Nansha [Spratlys] islands", and other islands and adjacent waters across the South China Sea.
Wang blamed the dispute on "some countries' illegal occupation" of islands belonging to China
since the 1970s.
"Even so, China has always been committed to solving disputes through negotiating directly with
countries involved and in a peaceful manner," the foreign minister told Xinhua.
He said that recent "unfounded and untrue rumours" had magnified disputes in the South China
Sea and "artificially upped tensions in the region".
Carpio, however, said there is no UNCLOS provision that grants China "historical rights" over
vast parts of the resource-rich section of the Pacific Ocean.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei has said that China will not participate in the
arbitration proceedings. But experts say that the tribunal will likely give China six months to
answer the case.

'David vs Goliath'
China's action in Scarborough leaves the Philippines with no other recourse but to bring the case
to the international tribunal, said Bonnie Glaser, an expert on China and Asia-Pacific at the Center
for Strategic and International Studies in Washington DC.
"After the whole Scarborough Shoal incident, it just became clear that the Philippines was not
going to be able to defend its rights by itself," she said. "In fact, it could not even rely on the
United States. Because at the end of the day, the US did nothing to prevent China from taking over
Scarborough Shoal."
She dismissed China's proposal for "bilateral consultations and negotiations" to the dispute, saying
it will only benefit China more than the Philippines. Up to the last minute, China had been urging
the Philippines to postpone the filing of the case.
"There's a lot of political tension and hostility that make cooperation very, very difficult," Glaser
told Al Jazeera.
The Philippines has also learned from its recent history. In 1995, China occupied Mischief Reef,
which is also within the Philippines' EEZ. China never left the reef despite Manila's repeated
diplomatic protests.

Standoff at the Scarborough Shoal

"The only way to really resolve this is going to be through the use of international arbitration,"
Glaser said. "I don't think bilateral, or multilateral negotiations are going to lead to a resolution."
But Jay Batongbacal, an international maritime law expert and law professor at the University of
the Philippines, said that there have been cases before international tribunals where opposing
parties reached a settlement. He cited the case between Singapore and Malaysia over the
reclamation in the Strait of Johore, which was dismissed before adjudication following a
settlement.
As for the relationship between the Philippines and China, Batongbacal said that despite previous
disputes, trade between the two countries flourished.
"Unfortunately, it appears that this policy no longer holds true after the Scarborough Shoal
standoff in 2012," he told Al Jazeera.
He said that it would take an "enormous amount of skilled statesmanship" on both sides to repair
relations adding that both countries "have gone to real extremes, leaving little room for flexibility
and compromise".
One of the main reasons why China's leaders are maintaining a hardline stance in South China Sea

is domestic politics, Glaser said.

"Compromise that is seen by the public as making concessions to other countries, and weakening
the nation, could lead to criticism of the Communist Party and the legitimacy of the party. Of
course keeping the regime in power is really the number one priority."
Batongbacal likened the current standoff between the Philippines and China to the battle between
David and Goliath.
"Not only in the sense that it is a small country doing battle against the large country, but also in
the sense that the Philippines must hit the Chinese legal armour at exactly the right spot in order
for it to prevail," he said.