maps first published in 1914 that show Chinese territory as encompassing the
entire SCS, up to an unclear but narrow belt of territorial waters held by the
other littoral states.^7
Chiang Kai-shek laid claim to the sea in 1947 using a nine-dashed U-shaped
line, a claim formalized by PRC Foreign Minister Zhou En-lai in 1951. Vietnam
has claimed both the Spratly and the Paracel groups since 1975, based on history
and occupation. Vietnam established a 200-nautical-mile EEZ (exclusive eco-
nomic zone) in 1977. The Philippines has claimed a large share of the Spratlys,
which Filipinos label Kalayaan, since 1971. In 1978, Manila declared these to
be part of the sovereign territory. Manila has also established a 200-nautical-
mile EEZ. Malaysia extended its continental shelf in 1979 to include some of
the Spratlys, while in 1988 Brunei established a 200-nautical-mile EEZ extend-
ing just to the south of the group. In 1992 and 1993, Indonesia got involved in
these territorial disputes to counter Chinese claims that seemed to encroach upon
the productive and profitable Natuna gas fields owned by Indonesia.
And during this spate of activity came one of the more disturbing develop-
ments, when in 1992 the Chinese National People’s Congress adopted the
Law of the Territorial Sea and Contiguous Zone. The law claimed exclusive
sovereignty over the Paracel and Spratly islands, asserting a right to evict other
national vessels, authorizing pursuit of foreign ships to the high seas, and requir-
ing all foreign warships to notify Beijing of their intent to pass through China’s
territorial seas and to request permission to do so.
Yet the sources and nature of the legal aspects of the claims are only part of the
story, the frequent use or threat to use force is another. Taiwan occupied Itu Aba,
the largest of the Spratly Islands, in 1956. China occupied the last of Paracel
Islands in 1974, acting militarily as South Vietnam was in its death throes and
unable to resist. China occupied nine reefs following a naval confrontation with
Vietnam in 1988 in which Vietnamese vessels were sunk with a loss of over
70 sailors. In 1992 Vietnam accused China of drilling in Vietnamese waters
and landing troops on Da Luc Reef. From June through September of that year,
China seized some twenty Vietnamese cargo vessels carrying goods from Hong
Kong. There were further naval confrontations between the two in 1995 over
three oil exploration blocks claimed by both countries.
The Chinese then occupied Mischief Reef, an atoll also claimed by Vietnam
and the Philippines, sometime prior to February 1995, when Filipino officials dis-
covered Chinese military structures onthe reef. Manila tried unsuccessfully to
evict the workers and remove the markers they had erected, but China expanded
its military structures on the reef and did so again in late 1998. Taiwanese artillery
fired on Vietnamese vessels in the disputed area in 1995, and in 1996 three
Chinese vessels engaged in a ninety-minute gun battle with a Taiwanese vessel
over Campones Island. In 1997 the Philippine Navy ordered a Chinese boat to
leave the Scarborough Shoal area and then planted the Philippine flag and
China–Southeast Asia Relations 173