China has not issued any official document announcing its comprehensive policy on the South China Sea (SCS) issue, nor have the other SCS littoral states. However, China's stance on some major issues of the SCS has been clearly illustrated in its official documents and statements. This chapter illustrates China's basic stance on the SCS based on the historical records, official documents, statements, and state practice concerned.

China's Indisputable Territorial Sovereignty over the Xisha (Paracel) and Nansha (Spratly) islands and their adjacent waters

China was the first to discover and name the islands of the Xisha and Nansha Islands and the first to exercise sovereign jurisdiction over them. This is supported by ample historical and jurisprudential evidence and has long been recognized by the international community.

Major Historical Evidence Supporting China's Sovereignty over Nansha Islands

China the First to Discover and Name the Nansha Islands

The discovery by the Chinese people of the Nansha Islands can be traced back to as early as the Han Dynasty. Yang Fu of the East Han Dynasty (ad 23–220) made reference to the Nansha Islands in his book entitled Yiwu Zhi (Records of Rarities), which reads: “Zhanghai qitou, shui qian er duo cishi”, or “There are islets, sand cays, reefs, and banks in the South China Sea, the water there is shallow and filled with magnetic rocks or stones.” Chinese people then called the South China Sea Zhanghai and all the islands, reefs, shoals, and isles in the South China Sea, including the Nansha and Xisha Islands, Qitou.

General Kang Tai, one of the famous ancient Chinese navigators of the East Wu State of the Three Kingdoms Period (ad 220–280), also mentioned the Nansha Islands in his book entitled Funan Zhuan (or Journeys to and from Phnom, the name of an ancient state in today's Cambodia). He used the following sentences in describing the islands: “In the South China Sea, there are coral islands and reefs; below these islands and reefs are rocks upon which the corals were formed.”

In numerous history and geography books published in the Tang and Song Dynasties, the Nansha and Xisha Islands were called Jiuruluo Islands, Shitang (literally meaning atolls surrounding a lagoon), Changsha (literally meaning long ranges of shoals), Qianli Shitang, Qianli Changsha, Wanli Shitang, and Wanli Changsha among others.