Thayer Consultancy Background Brief:

ABN # 65 648 097 123

South China Sea: The Probative
Value of Pre-20th Century Maps
June 30, 2023

Mr. Tran Thang in the United States has spent many years collecting ancient Chinese
maps showing that the Spratly Islands and Paracel Islands are not listed as part of
China’s territory.
https://vnexpress.net/ban-do-hoang-sa-
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We have learned that you have had the opportunity to view Thang’s collection in
Vietnam.We would really appreciate if you could give us some comments about these
maps. In your opinion, how important and valuable are they in proving that the Spratly
Islands and Paracel Islands belong to Vietnam?
ANSWER: China claims it was the first to discover, name, occupy and administer all the
land features in the South China Sea located in the “four shas” or island groupings –
Pratas, Macclesfield Bank, Paracel islands and Spratly islands.
China’s assertion is wrong in law and in fact.
In 2016, the Arbitral Tribunal hearing the claims by the Philippines against the People’s
Republic of China rejected “China's claims to historic rights, or other sovereign rights
or jurisdiction, with respect to the maritime areas of the South China Sea
encompassed by the relevant part of the 'nine-dash line' are contrary to the
Convention and without lawful effect to the extent that they exceed the geographic
and substantive limits of China's maritime entitlements under the Convention; and
further DECLARES that the Convention superseded any historic rights, or other
sovereign rights or jurisdiction, in excess of the limits imposed therein."
In international law maps, such as Tran Thang’s massive collection, have no legal
standing unless they are attached to a treaty to illustrate a point. But these maps do
have value in countering China sweeping political claims to all the features in the South
China Sea based on history.
I have repeatedly questioned Chinese scholars and officials at international
conferences as follows: you claim China was the first to discover, name, occupy and
administer all the land features in the South China Sea. Can you give me any example
of China being forced to relinquish administrative control over a feature in the South
China Sea by a foreign power? Was forced used? Were civilians killed? I have never
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received an example to explain how the Philippines, Malaysia, and Vietnam came to
occupy the land features in the South China Sea that China claims to have occupied
and administered.
What do the maps in Tran Thang’s collection tell us? The maps illustrate that both
Chinese officials and foreign governments and cartographers agree that up until the
20th Century China made no claims beyond Hainan island. It is also remarkable that
maps produced in different European countries concur on this point.
In international law, claims to sovereignty must be based on continuous occupation
and administration. Tran Thang’s map collection is merely the starting point. Who
drew up the maps and why did they do so? Claims to sovereignty must be backed up
by claimants with evidence of continuous occupation and administration, such as
construction of a temple, light house, radio station, schools, and documentation such
as birth certificates issued to local inhabitants. A claim to sovereignty is given credence
when foreign countries acknowledge and respect another country’s occupation and
administration.
Acquisition based on armed force, such as China’s seizure of the Paracels in January
1974, are illegal under international law.

Suggested citation: Carlyle A. Thayer, “South China Sea: The Probative Value of Pre-
20th Century Maps,” Thayer Consultancy Background Brief, June 30, 2023. All
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Thayer Consultancy provides political analysis of current regional security issues and
other research support to selected clients. Thayer Consultancy was officially
registered as a small business in Australia in 2002.