South China Sea: Chinese academics urged to ‘construct narratives’ to defend maritime claims. Laura Zhou. South China Morning Post, Jun 30 2024.
China faces ‘an increasingly arduous battle’ to win over public opinion in the disputed waters, speakers tell an academic seminar in Hainan
Preserving a copy for posterity, they may very well end up removing this filth. My emphasis:
Chinese academics have called for more studies of the country’s claims to the disputed South China Sea.
“Narrative construction and discourse building are essential if we are to effectively defend our rights and interests in the South China Sea – both in the present and in future,” Wu Shicun, founder of the National Institute for South China Sea Studies, told a seminar held in Hainan province last week.
Beijing lays claim to much of the South China Sea, citing historic activities and records in support.
Its claims were rejected by the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague in 2016 in a case filed by the Philippines.
Recently the two countries have been involved in a series of clashes near disputed reefs – including collisions, China using water cannons and a recent incident in which a Philippine sailor lost a thumb. These have raised fears that the situation may escalate into a more serious conflict.
Without naming any country, Wu said China faced “an increasingly arduous battle over public perception and opinion”, adding that “rival claimants” were “stepping up cooperation with extraterritorial forces in the study of historical and legal issues” concerning the South China Sea.
Beijing has dismissed the Hague ruling as “null and void” and continued to build up its infrastructure and troop presence in the South China Sea.
But the Philippines and other claimants – which include Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei – along with the United States and its allies have repeatedly urged China to abide by international law.
The Philippines has signalled that it may turn to the Hague for another ruling, fuelling worries in Beijing that it would put the country in a bind and harm its reputation as a peacemaker and friendly neighbour in the region.
Yi Xianliang, a former ambassador to Norway who previously served as deputy director of the foreign ministry’s boundary and ocean affairs department, also spoke at Tuesday’s seminar and dismissed the 2016 ruling as a “bad joke”.
But he warned “we have to ask why the ruling is flawed” and ask if it “will happen again and how we can prevent it from happening again”.
Wu, who now chairs the Huayang Institute for Research on Maritime Cooperation and Ocean Governance, denied China had violated international law in its disputes with the Philippines, and accused the US and its allies for “taking sides … by supporting whoever confronts China and violates China’s rights in the South China Sea”.
“Some strange theories which deliberately distort the history of the South China Sea and maliciously smear China’s rights and claims in the South China Sea have begun to circulate in the international academic community,” Wu said.
He urged the 100 or so historians and legal scholars present to help “restore the rightful background on South China Sea issues from historical and legal perspectives”.
Wu also said the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea – which governs maritime rights and the freedom of navigation – could not take precedence over countries’ historical titles and rights, citing a previous case involving Eritrea and Yemen in the 1990s.
He said scholars could make their case by tapping into foreign manuscript collections, maritime histories and Western naval literature to support China’s claims.
This would allow them to “give a forceful response to the false narratives that China is changing the status quo in the South China Sea, that China has failed to comply with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea”, Wu said.
This, he said, would help rebut accusations that Beijing was making “excessive maritime claims”.
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My comment (and my emphasis): Shih-ts'un Wu, founder of the National Institute for South China Sea Studies (中国南海研究院 (nanhai.org.cn)), now (it seems) the capo at the Huayang Institute for Research on Maritime Cooperation and Ocean Governance (can't get website of that snake pit, and its name varies wildly, sometimes is Center on Maritime, or Research Center on Maritime), told seminar assistants in Hainan province last week to construct narratives defending Chinese maritime claims with any means necessary, including exploiting Western archives/libraries: "scholars could make their case by tapping into foreign manuscript collections, maritime histories and Western naval literature to support China’s claims, which would allow them to 'give a forceful response to the false narratives that China is changing the status quo in the South China Sea, that China has failed to comply with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.'"
My assessment is that the lackeys will not only covertly, clandestinely infiltrate libraries and research institues, but that they, in their demented patriotic cowardice, will plunder and scavenge the archives, like the vulptures they are, destroying documents that support the Philippines' claims.
This is the implicit command of these savages of the Party.
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Board of Governors (中国南海研究院 (nanhai.org.cn)), page now lost:
Wu Shicun has a PhD in history and is president and senior research fellow of China’s National Institute for South China Sea Studies, chairman of board of directors of China-Southeast Asia Research Center on the South China Sea, vice president of China Institute for Free Trade Ports Studies, deputy director of the Collaborative Innovation Center of South China Sea Studies, Nanjing University.
Dr Wu’s research interests cover the history and geography of the South China Sea, maritime delimitation, maritime economy, international relations and regional security strategy. His main single-authored books include What One Needs to Know about the South China Sea (Current Affairs Press, 2016), What One Needs to Know about the Disputes between China and the Philippines (Current Affairs Press,2014), Solving Disputes for Regional Cooperation and Development in the South China Sea: A Chinese perspective (Chandos Publishing, 2013). His main edited books include: The 21st Century Maritime Silk Road: Challenges and Opportunities for Asia and Europe (Routledge, 2019), South China Sea Law fare: Post-Arbitration Policy Options and Future Prospects (South China Sea Think Tank / Taiwan Center for Security Studies, 2017), Arbitration Concerning the South China Sea: Philippines versus China (Ashgate, 2016), UN Convention on the Law of the Sea and the South China Sea (Ashgate, 2015), Non-Traditional Security Issues and the South China Sea-Shaping a New Framework for Cooperation (Ashgate, 2014), Recent Developments in the South China Sea Dispute: The Prospect of a Joint Development Regime (Routledge, 2014), Securing the Safety of Navigation in East Asia—Legal and Political Dimensions (Chandos Publishing, 2013). Dr Wu has published widely in academic journals and been the subject of frequent media interviews as a senior commentator on South China Sea, regional security issues, the Belt & Road Initiative and the development of Hainan Province.
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Update Jul 10 2024. The reprobate imperious colonizer, highly dishonorable, recidivist offender, and intemperate, libelous, impious, defiling, noxious, pretentious, harmful, poisonous, virulent, vitiating, "malignant" (he writes ' "tumor" ' infra), pestilential, indecent, injurious, contaminative, pernicious, sinful, ignoble, polluting, maleficent, venomous, sinister, debasing, demoralizing, corrupting, venenose, lachrymose, environmentally unfriendly Shih-ts'un Wu, the psychotic, sacrilegious mafioso, one of the most loyal lieutenant desecrators, the most indecorous immodest one, with no regrets ever, a hooligan, a refurbished, recalcitrant lackey, in a joint effort with the Global Times published the article below.
The viperous, provincial, felonious, demonic, depraved, truth eclipser, disreputable, impish, septic Global Times, who shamelessly, almost with voluptuousness, delights in schadenfreude, let this hatchet job of Shih-th'un see the light and in doing so detracted from the sum of human knowledge once again.
The GT editorial board and many of the gossipers there seems to experience extreme pleasure with their soiled words, it is a study case of lack of benevolence from the Heights of Power. The butlers there despise the dissident, the free-thinker, and the hoi polloi, and have no qualms about crushing others' rights.
The revolting piece, calling to reject not only what the arbitral court (Permanent Court of Arbitration) said more than a lustrum ago, but also what it may decide in the future, shows how low we can sink when we are enemies of Reason. A sure way to go that path is to become slaves of sentimentality, blindly follow a political party, and gush about the Fatherland, seeing the other peoples as inferior.
It is the old, repulsive imperial view that for so many centuries we had to endure of these brutes, who, like proverbial capital-city dwellers, behave as bullies but see themselves as refined, polite professionals, good lads that have to suffer the obnoxious, illiterate, unsophisticated peasants who deserve no voice. Why the rough, ungraceful country cousins think still of having the right to avoid taxation when there is no representation? The mandarinate knows better. Always knew.
Urgent call to clear toxicity of [the] SCS arbitration award. Shih-ts'un Wu.
https://en.nanhai.org.cn/index/research/paper_c/id/598.html
My emphasis:
With the approach of the 8th anniversary of the illegal award on the South China Sea arbitration, some troubling developments have recently emerged in the region. A number of extraterritorial countries have increased their military activities in the South China Sea, and the Philippines has ratcheted up legal motions and maritime actions aimed at solidifying this arbitration award. Certain countries have intensified unilateral actions to consolidate and expand their vested interests.
In less than two years, the current Philippine government has nearly dismantled the good practices established over recent years for managing maritime differences and properly handling the South China Sea issue between China and the Philippines. The bilateral relationship, which had gradually emerged from the shadow of the illegal South China Sea arbitration case, now appears to have reset and is even regressing.
The international community is widely aware of China's position of not accepting or recognizing the award. However, some countries have not fully grasped the significant damage and harm that the award has caused to the handling of the South China Sea dispute, the rule-building in the region, the fairness and authority of international dispute settlement mechanisms, and the international order based on international law. Some even harbor unrealistic fantasies about the award.
Judging from the current provocative actions of the Philippines against China's rights and claims in the South China Sea, the current Philippine government has intensified its use of the award to change the status quo, consolidate illegal gains and expand the scope of infringement. Since taking office, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has frequently cited the award as a so-called "basis" to attack and smear China's actions of safeguarding legitimate rights at the Ren'ai Jiao and Huangyan Dao. In fact, the arbitration award contains significant errors and flaws in legal interpretation and application, fact-finding and evidence acceptance. China's stance is precisely an act of maintaining its legitimate rights and interests, maintaining maritime peace and stability and upholding the rule of law.
Looking back at the volatile situation in the South China Sea since the award was issued eight years ago, it can be asserted that the award has not brought, and indeed cannot bring, peace and tranquility to the South China Sea. The arbitration award has become a "troublemaker" for peace and stability in the South China Sea, a "spoiler" for bilateral relations between China and relevant parties, and a "roadblock" for the comprehensive and effective implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea and the orderly advancement of consultations on the Code of Conduct in the South China Sea.
We must recognize that the arbitration award has had an extremely negative impact on political mutual trust at all levels between China and the Philippines. Outside the Philippines, some other disputant sides also occasionally refer to or cite the arbitration award as the basis for their respective claims. Additionally, some extraterritorial countries hold the arbitration award as a standard, pressuring the Chinese government to "respect" or "implement" the award. Therefore, it is crucial to make relevant countries within and outside the region clearly understand the essence and dangers of the award, and to promote the relevant parties to return to the correct track of resolving disputes through negotiation and consultation, mitigating differences through maritime cooperation and managing crises through rule-building.
As for the Philippines' threat to initiate new arbitration against China, it is, in a sense, a manifestation of the lingering toxicity of this arbitration award. No matter how the Philippine government packages the so-called "second arbitration," its content will definitely be related to some errors in the previous arbitration award. China has indisputable sovereignty over the South China Sea islands and the adjacent waters. It needs to repeatedly and continuously clarify the toxicity of the arbitration award from a legal standpoint to thoroughly eradicate this "tumor" that has long undermined the rule of law and order at sea.
Rebutting the arbitration award and countering the erroneous statements of countries within and outside the region are not intended to provoke a new round of legal battles, but to make a rightful response to actions and forces that disrupt peace and stability in the South China Sea, interfere with China-Philippine relations and profit from the award. This will further reveal to the international community the political background of the arbitral tribunal's composition and the historical errors of the arbitration award, and lay bare the irreversible severe harm the award has caused to the rule of law and maritime order.
Wu Shicun is the chairman of the Huayang Research Center for Maritime Cooperation and Ocean Governance and founding president of the National Institute for South China Sea Studies.
Link: https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202407/1315786.shtml
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