The Paracel-Spratly dispute: No room for
misinterpretation
June 15, 2014
I feel, reluctantly, that I should take issue with the ravings of
Mr. Ling Dequan in his article, “The truth about the sea dispute” (1), in which,
he argues that the communication of the late Prime Minister Pham Van Dong to
Zhou Enlai was a statement of support for China’s claims to islands and reefs
in the Paracel and Spratly archipelagos. The argument is flawed, because the
author misapprehends the legal value of the communication and the real
sovereignty of the archipelagos.
Ling Dequan correctly points out that the communication that the
late Prime Minister Pham Van Dong sent to Zhou Enlai was a “note”. The note is
a private communication between two individuals, and can not in any way be
considered a formal government statement. Thus, Dequan’s reading of the note as
a statement of support for China’s sovereignty claims on Paracel and
Spratly archipelagos is an inappropriate overinterpretation.
Indeed, China’s claims are not recognized by major countries in
the world. For instance, in 1996 China issued a "Declaration on the
Baselines of the Territorial Sea" which established straight baselines for
the Paracel Islands. However, these claims were not (and still are not)
recognized by the United States.
It is important to stress that in 1958, there were two
internationally-recognized governments in Vietnam: The Democratic Republic
of Vietnam in the north, and the Republic of Vietnam in the south. The Paracel
and Spratly archipelagos were under the jurisdiction of the Republic of
Vietnam. Therefore, the note by Mr. Pham Van Dong had neither legal value nor
diplomatic meaning -- whatsoever.
More importantly, Ling Dequan fails to acknowledge the fact that
prior to 1954 Vietnam was the formal administrator of the Paracel and Spratly
islands, and that China used force to invade and occupy Paracel in 1974 and
Spratly in 1988. The Chinese invasion is likened to an act of piracy. Surely,
at the time of invasion the Chinese was not considering the note of Pham Van
Dong.
I came away feeling sorry for Ling Dequan who is described as a
“researcher” of the Research Center of World Issues. It is clear that Dequan
has failed to convince readers that he has the quality of a serious
researcher. Of course, it is possible that as an employee of a center
associated with the Xinhua News Agency, Dequan might have to sacrifice his
scientific integrity to pen down something that he does not necessarily believe
in, and that is a shame.
---
Tuan V. Nguyen is a freelance
commentator currently living in Sydney (Australia)
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