China's Spratly Policy: With Special Reference to the Philippines and Malaysia

Abstract

History, Perception, and Emotion Studies by foreigners on China's Spratly policy do not fully convey the deepseatedness and intensity of Chinese feeling about the sovereignty over the dozens of tiny islands and reefs that make up this archipelago. In the international community, the validity of China's exclusive claim over almost all of the South China Sea, based on historical discovery and ad hoc prior occupation, is open to legal challenge. However, it is embedded in the Chinese national psyche that the Spratly archipelago has been part of the motherland's territory since ancient times, and the Chinese do not see themselves as 'joining the claim to the Spratlys with the end of the Cold War. In their eyes, the nature of the dispute is crystal clear: initially taking advantage of China's turbulent domestic politics and its preoccupation with superpower threats, regional countries have occupied China's islands and reefs, carved up its sea areas, and looted its marine resources. While other regional countries perceive China in recent years as aggressive and provocative in the South China Sea, Beijing intrinsically sees its assertive policy as a long-overdue and legitimate action to protect its territorial integrity. Conceptually and theoretically, until its sovereignty over the entire Spratly archipelago is recognized, China regards itself as a victim of regional countries' aggression and encroachment.