남중국해 문제의 기원과 쟁점화 - 중국과 베트남의 파라셀 군도 및 스프래틀리 군도 영유권 분쟁과 관련하여 -

Abstract

Several countries are competing territorial claims over the South China Sea. Such disputes are regarded as Asia’s potentially dangerous point of conflict. Both China and Vietnam have been vigorous in prosecuting their claims. This study examines the origin and development of the Sino-Vietnaemse dispute over the South China Sea from the historical perspectives.<BR> In the traditional era, China didn’t use any standard name of Paracel Islands or Spratly Islands. Moreover, the South China Sea was not considered as Chinese territory. On the other hand, Vietnam called Paracel Islands Bai Cat Vang or Hoang Sa, and then Spratly Islands was named Vạn Ly Trường Sa in the late 19<SUP>th</SUP> century. Vietnamese government had tried to control Paracel Islands since the 17<SUP>th</SUP> century.<BR> However, the French colonial period was a break with tradition. Vietnamese territorial water grew rife with ambiguities and uncertainties. Japanese intervention in the South China Sea set off a knock-on effect on China and French Indochina. The consequent increase in the political temperature on both sides of Paracel Islands and Spratly Islands, and in the occupied and disputed area itself, was real and palpable. Japan took de facto control of the two Islands in the early 1940s. Japan’s defeat in the Second World War and its farewell to the South China Sea in 1951 became a major hindrance to peaceful coexistence in Asia.