China's claim on U-shaped line (Source: AFP/VNA)Seoul (VNA) – The Republic of Korea’s Korea Times published a series of articles on sovereignty of the Hoang Sa (Paracels) and Truong Sa (Spratlys) archipelagoes from the perspective of international law on March 14 and 17, affirming that China’s claim on the U-shaped line is arbitrary and unfounded while Vietnam has continued to enforce its sovereignty over the islands.
The article said, according to the perspective of modern international law, China ’s U-shaped line is not stable and defined. As for international case law, the most important characteristic of an international border is “stable and definitive,” so the U-shaped line cannot be considered “a national border”.
The articles said China has failed to produce evidence that it has implemented full sovereignty over these waters continuously and peacefully from ancient times. The facts show that China ’s claim to these waters has never gotten recognition from the international community.
In San Francisco in 1951, participating countries rejected a proposal to return the Paracels and Spratlys to China .
In the visit to Germany by Chinese President Xi Jinping in March 2014, German Chancellor Angela Merkel gave the leader of China an ancient Chinese map drawn in 1735 by the French painter Jean-Baptiste Bourguignon d’Anville. The map showed that the southern boundary of China extended to Hainan island, not including the Paracels and Spratlys archipelagoes of Vietnam.
The articles also provided historical documents revealing China used armed force to arrogate the Paracels and some islands in the Spratlys.
Many countries in the region have taken retaliatory measures against China , including India . The Philippines submitted a petition for China’s violation of the UN Convention of the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) 1982 in the East Sea.-VNA
