PHL claim over Scarborough Shoal, 'groundless, illegal' says Chinese 'expert'

China's sovereignty over the Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal which Beijing refers to as Huangyan Island is an indisputable fact and the claim to the island by the Philippines is groundless and illegal, said Wu Shicun, president of the China Institute for South China Sea Studies recently.

"China's sovereignty over Huangyan Island is based on the fact that this island was discovered and named by China first; it is also under China's effective jurisdiction and management," said Wu.

[Read: China to build on disputed Scarborough Shoal this year -- report]

[Read: Lessons from the Panatag Shoal standoff]

Wu said the discovery of Huangyan Island by China can be traced back to the 13th Century during the Yuan Dynasty?1271-1368). Since the Period of Republic of China (1912-1949), islands in the South China Sea, including Huangyan Island, have been named three times. The island was named Huangyan Island in 1935 and renamed into Minzhu Jiao (reef) in 1947.

In 1983, the China Committee on Geographical Names used Huangyan Island as the standard name, and Minzhu Jiao as an alternative name.

"Huangyan Island has been under China's effective jurisdiction and management ever since its discovery. Huangyan Island and its surrounding waters have been China's traditional fishing grounds since ancient times," said Wu.

Wu said the Philippines began to reveal its intention to occupy Panatag Shoal in 1997. Since then the Philippines repeatedly dispatched warships and naval troops to the island and destroyed sovereignty monuments and other facilities built by China on the island, and China took measures to expel Filipino militants.

"In 2009, the Philippines amended the Philippine Territorial Sea Baselines Act to include some islands in the South China Sea and the Huangyan Island in its territory, but official maps of the Philippines published in the past, have all marked Huangyan Island as outside their boundary of the Philippine territory," said Wu.

Wu said the Treaty of Paris between Spain and the United States signed in 1898, the Treaty of Washington between Spain and the United States in 1900, and the Anglo-American Treaty in 1930, clearly defined that 118 degrees east longitude is the western limit of Philippine territory. Huangyan Island is outside it.

"Therefore, from this perspective, China's sovereignty over Huangyan Island is an indisputable fact and the claim to Huangyan Island by the Philippines is groundless and illegal," said Wu. — Reuters