The South China Sea disputes have become wrapped in myth and misunderstanding. On this page I will link to some information and documents that will, I hope, make things clearer.<\/span><\/p>\n The origin of the ‘U-shaped line’<\/span><\/p>\n How did the Republic of China come to draw a line around almost all of the South China Sea and claim it as its own territory in 1947? The simple answer is that it’s based on a series of misunderstandings about history and maps. It’s important to remember that the Republic of China did not survey the sea before it published the map of the ‘U-shaped line’ but simply copied existing British maps. That (combined with a poor understanding of Southeast Asian history and at least one\u00a0mistranslation) resulted in the drawing of the line.\u00a0The story is told in Chapter 2 of my book but I’ve prepared a presentation that outlines the story – and also the origins of the other countries’ claims too.<\/p>\n Oil, gas and politics in the South China Sea<\/span><\/p>\n How has politics affected the exploitation of oil and \u00a0gas in the South China Sea – and vice versa? This presentation – originally given to the London branch of the Southeast Asia Petroleum Exploration Society (SEAPEX) in November 2014 – should help clarify some of the issues. There is a much fuller explanation in Chapter 5 of the book.<\/p>\n Names of the features in the South China Sea<\/span><\/p>\n The US State Department has helpfully put together a list of the different names for the reefs, islands and other features in the South China Sea.<\/p>\n Chinese newspaper articles<\/span><\/p>\n So much of the writing on the history of the South China Sea disputes is based on poor evidence. My article on this can be read here<\/a>. In the interests of promoting proper debate about the evidence I’m posting some of the sources here.<\/p>\n Editions of the Hong Kong magazines Ming Pao Monthly and Seventies Monthly from 1974 provided much of the historical background for Dieter Heinzig’s 1976 paper ‘Disputed islands in the South China Sea’ and Marwyn Samuels’ 1982 book ‘Contest for the South China Sea’. You can download scans of the magazine articles here:<\/p>\n\n
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