- Introduction
The starting point for my paper is a text published by the Foreign Ministry of the People’s Republic of China on its webpage on November 17, 2000.[i] This document entitled “Historical Evidence To Support China’s Sovereignty over Nansha Islands” (hereafter “Historical Evidence”) sets out to justify Chinese claims on the South China by pointing out that Chinese seafarers were the first to name and ‘develop’ the various disputed islands and areas.[ii] What I shall do in the following is to highlight the pre-modern texts said to describe the South China Sea, and to discuss their interpretations within modern Chinese scholarship.[iii]
More infomation: Johannes L. Kurz, What is the ‘historical’ in China’s claims to the South China Sea? A survey of relevant pre-modern Chinese textsWhat_is_the_historical_in_Chinas_claims
