History Speaking Up

On June 20， 2024， theEnglish edition ofThe History andSovereignty of theSouth China Sea Islands ， publishedby New Star Press， was officiallyreleased at the 30th BeijingInternational Book Fair. Based onhistorical data and legal basis， thebook gives readers a clear pictureof the South China Sea issue andprovides important proof forChina’s sovereignty over NanhaiZhudao （the South China Seaislands）.

The book was penned byAnthony Carty， a British expert ininternational law. Carty started tostudy the South China Sea issue in2009， when tensions in the SouthChina Sea escalated. That year，he returned to Britain from HongKong where he taught for suFCh6Yp/fQpj/V3cttBJBa80q7DzCWvxnL3Q6bR2LiGo=mmervacation. By accident， he founda massive amount of historicalrecords on China’s sovereignty overNansha Qundao （Nansha Islands）at the British National Archives.This triggered great interest in theSouth China Sea issue for him，which then became a new realmof his research. From 2011 to2018， Carty visited the DiplomaticArchives of France， the BritishNational Archives， and the U.S.National Archives many times todig into historical documents across120 years since the end of the 19thcentury.

By reviewing major Westerncountries’ historical understandingand judgments on the sovereigntyof the South China Sea islands，the book clearly made severalindisputable conclusions： Chinawas the first country to discover，name， and explore resources in aswell as exercise jurisdiction over theSouth China Sea islands， so it hashistoric rights in the South ChinaSea. China’s territorial claims in theSouth China Sea are backed by bothhistorical evidence and internationallaw， and the historical recordsfound in the United States， Britain，and France clearly show that thePhilippines’ sovereignty claimsover some islands and reefs of theNansha Islands are groundless.

“Mr. Carty examined manyhistorical diplomatic documentsfrom the United States， Britain，and France， three countries thatwere more or less involved inthe territorial issues in the SouthChina Sea in different historicalperiods，” noted Zhou Jian， formerRepresentative for Boundaryand Ocean Affairs from China’sMinistry of Foreign Affairs， atthe release ceremony of the book.“The diplomatic documentsrecorded their considerations，policies， and legal positions forhistorical events， which are ofgreat significance for clarifying thefacts， learning the ins and outs ofthe territorial issues， and unveilingthe truth of historical events froma unique perspective.”

The History and Sovereigntyof the South China Sea Islandshas not only been popular inChina， but has also drawn globalattention. According to statisticsfrom New Star Press， since thepublication of its Chinese editionin November 2023， messagesabout the book have received morethan 10 million views on globalmedia platforms， making it a hottopic among the academia， media，and readers both in China andbeyond. Comments on the bookby foreign media professionalsand experts have aroused a wideresponse globally.

Volodymyr Urusov， anassociate professor in theDepartment of History at TarasShevchenko National Universityin Kyiv， Ukraine， commentedthat the publication of the bookwas crucial for China to solve theSouth China Sea issue， stabilizethe situation in the South ChinaSea， and promote implementationof a Code of Conduct in the SouthChina Sea with relevant countries.“It is worth noting that China hasindisputable sovereignty over theSouth China Sea islands， whichhas been verified by historicaldocuments stored in Britain，” he said.

Radio Moldova correspondentAnatol Caciuc noted that theresearch results found in TheHistory and Sovereignty of theSouth China Sea Islands can helpthose interested in the South ChinaSea situation better understandChina’s stance from the historicalperspective. “China’s stance isclear， that is—involved countriesmust neither infringe upon China’sterritorial sovereignty and maritimerights and interests in the SouthChina Sea nor resort to externalforces to interfere in China’sexploration of maritime resourcesin the South China Sea，” he said.

“This book represents anobjective and neutral study thathonestly presents the historicalarchives as they are， and I’mglad that it has had an academicimpact，” remarked Carty. Atrilingual edition of the book，published in Chinese， English， andFrench， will be unveiled before theend of this year.