BEIJING, May 23 (Xinhua) -- China's historical rights within the dotted line in the South China Sea are not deniable despite the attempt of the Philippines to question them by distorting facts, The People's Daily said in an article published on Monday.
The Philippines has asked for the international tribunal, which has not been endorsed by China as a just one, to negate China's historical rights within the dotted line in the South China Sea, saying they are not supported by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
However, the Philippines, The People's Daily said, has distorted historical facts and purposefully misinterpreted the UNCLOS.
The Philippines claimed that the Chinese people had conducted no activities in, and therefore had no historical connections with, the South China Sea.
However, the truth is China's activities in the South China Sea date back to over 2,000 years ago, The People's Daily article said. China has been the first to discover, name and develop the group of islands in the South China Sea, which have been known as the Nanhai Islands in China. For centuries, the Chinese government had been the administrator of the islands by putting them under the administration of local governments, conducting military patrols and providing rescue services.
The Nansha and Xisha Islands, occupied by Japan during World War II, were returned to China as part of the territories stolen from China. This has been clearly set out in international documents such as the Cairo Declaration and the Potsdam Proclamation. China sent government and military officials to recover the islands and deployed troops there.
In the controversial case, the Philippines also claimed that the Chinese side only put forward its claim to its historical rights in 2009, 27 years after the UNCLOS was concluded.
This is a malicious misinterpretation of China's historical rights, The People's Daily said. China has repeatedly said that its sovereign and related rights to the group of islands in the South China Sea and the adjacent waters were acquired during a long historical process and has been pronounced by successive governments of China over time.
Read the full story at Xinhua