Addition for clarification: The “South China Morning Post”(SCMP) is a state-controlled Chinese media outlet. Sometimes they appear to publish articles like this one that are, at least to some degree, critical of the CCP, although the article increasingly reiterates the CCP’s stance as you read along. The post provides a rare glimpse into the Chinese propaganda machinery, however, which is why I posted it here. In general, however, one should be very careful using this source.
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“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.
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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.
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Beijing lays claim to much of the South China Sea, citing historic activities and records in support.
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Its claims were rejected by the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague in 2016 in a case filed by the Philippines.
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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.
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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”.
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But Yi 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”.
Thank you for sharing this, their claims to the whole territory of the sea are ludicrous.
Occasionally, the SCMP posts something like this, where the title seems to support a non-CCP viewpoint. If you read the content of the article, however, it merely reiterates the reasons the CCP claim the South China Sea.
Yes, I fully agreed. Usually I don’t post the SCMP as it is Chinese state-controlled media. I did it in that case (and in another post in this community) as it provides a glimpse into Chinese propaganda planning. This is why I posted it here, but please let me know if you think I am mistaken.
Their are many websites originating from China that will explain why their claims are valid and that they should not be disputed.
Now that’s just the “create casus belli” from the Crusader Kings playbook.
adding that “rival claimants” were “stepping up cooperation with extraterritorial forces in the study of historical and legal issues” concerning the South China Sea.
Oh no! They might figure out what’s true is not in China’s favor!
This is nothing new.
Don’t they have scriptures that give them claim to the Moon too? Lel.Don’t know of Moon claims, but it’s any dictator’s playbook. It’s worth reporting on things like that to remind us what’s going on.
It’s worth reporting on things like that to remind us what’s going on.
Oh for sure.
No intention of discouraging that at all 👍
Literally every country constructs a narrative to justify their claims. This isn’t special or uniquely Chinese.
You may have a particular perception of reality -a narrative- and then infer a claim. But it is a completely different thing if you have a claim and then seek to construct a narrative.
What this incident tells us is that the Chinese government doesn’t know itself how to justify its claims, so it urges academics to find something to justify the claims of sovereignty over the sea (and the sea’s estimated 11 billion barrels of untapped oil and 190 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, btw) against a wide range of (non-Western) countries like the Philippines, Taiwan, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Brunei.
The fact that China is pursuing its claims very aggressively makes this whole thing even worse (And, yes, other countries may do similar things, and it is bad too, but it doesn’t justify China’s move here.)
And, yes, other countries may do similar things, and it is bad too, but it doesn’t justify China’s move here.
That’s really all my entire point. I’m not defending China’s claim, because it’s just as ludicrous as Vietnam’s. I was actually surprised to see how nuanced you approached this rather than assuming ill intent. Thanks for that
Yeah, as you mention Vietnam: the interesting bit here maybe is that Vietnam -a single-party country with a similar totalitarian approach like China- appears to seek closer ties to the U.S. rather then to Beijing, at least that’s my interpretation of the country/'s political moves over the last year or so.
That’s how I read the latest stuff coming from the region as well. It is interesting that Vietnam is seeking ties with the US. Imo it’s a mistake to do that, but I’m not a Vietnamese citizen. The US typically betrays ML countries at the nearest convenience.
