Learn history, my friend.
During the 14th
UNESCOIntergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC), it was agreed upon that China would establish five observation posts, including one at the Spratly Islands, for worldwide ocean survey.
[6] In March 1987, the UNESCO IOC commissioned China to build the observation post at the Spratly Islands.
[6] In April 1987, after numerous surveys and patrols, China chose the
Fiery Cross Reef as the ideal location for the observation post because the unoccupied reef was remote from other claims and it was large enough for the observation post.
[6] Between January and February, Vietnamese forces began establishing a presence at surrounding reefs to monitor the Chinese activity.
[6] That led to a series of confrontations as the
People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) began defending its position.
[6]
The wiki page completely omitted the author's view point on China's action. Here are some more from the book by Koo, Min Gyo (2009) page 153 - 154 under the title "Initiation and escalation phase."
In the late 1970s and the early 80s, the presence of Soviet naval forces based at Cam Ranh Bay in Vietnam severely contrained China's trategic space in the South China Sea. Yet with the Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev's retrenchment policy from 1986, China became more assertive in the area. Chinese decision in early 1987 to extablish a permanent foothold on Fiery Cross Reef in the Spratlys was one of the early indications of China's aggressive maritine and territorial policy during the waning Cold War years...
...The UNESCO project provided diplomatic cover for China to move into the South China Sea.
Besides the point from the author that this is just a diplomatic cover for China to insert itself in the Spratlys, couple other points:
1) UNESCO's decision was not a mandate for China to take Fiery Cross Reef for itself. It's just to hire China as a contractor of this international observatory post. PRC has effectively broken UNESCO directive and taken the island for itself while built no international observatory. PRC was in blatant violation, disregarding the UNESCO but now you want to use it to talk justice with Vietnam? Showing more history only brings more Chinese skeletons out of the closet.
2) UNESCO's decision was not a mandate for China to take other island and reefs in the Spratly, which it did.
3) The article from the book and from your wiki quote clearly shows that PRC initiated the conflict by building something on another country's claimed territory. Peace time construction does not need naval vassals; and it must be halted under international law if it threatens a war with another country. The fact that China brought naval vassals instead of construction ships proves that China was ready for an arm conflict to take over another country's territory.
Fact: PRC has no territory and sufficient historical claims of the Spratly and had no business in the area until 1987.
1) No direct mention of Paracel and Spratly.
2) The Article SPECIFICALLY postulated that France force and South VN force shall be removed from said islands.
3) At the time, France occupied the Southern half of Paracel, while PRC/ROC administered the northern half of Paracel. Both continues to fight and dispute until we retake everything in 1974.
The Woody Island is the biggest island in Paracel and we administered with military Garrison dating to 1945 when Japan surrendered and return to us., before Geneva Accord took place. So this is enough evidence to debunk the theory that you own Paracel. Let also remember the France is the real occupying owner of the Southern half. You own nothing.
Don't try to be cute. Stick to fact.
1) Both French and South Vietnam troops were in the Spratlys and Paracels.
2) They STAYED on those islands after the article. Do you have trouble comprehending the idea of exchange control? No one was removed from "said islands" because both Paracels and Spratlys are perpendicular to South Vietnam's coast.
3) The "Northern half" that you said was only the woody island and Macclesfiled bank while France and South Vietnam controlled everything else. It happened when the PRC set foot on the island in 1949. So before that, China had had no actual control. Japan returned no territory. PRC took the woody island from the French by force.
You quoted Wikipedia so it's time for me to quote:
- In 1930, France claimed the islands on behalf of its protectorate based on the fact that Emperor Gia Long had officially taken possession of the Paracel Islands in 1816, and that Emperor Minh Mạng had sent a mission to build a temple and erect steles there in 1835.[52]
- In 1932, French Indochina and the Nguyen dynasty of Vietnam annexed the islands and set up a weather station on Pattle Island.[52]
- In 1939, the Empire of Japan invaded and occupied the islands from the French. The official reason for the Japanese invasion was that the islands were Chinese territory and Japan was at war with China.[52]
- After World War II, Nationalist China reaffirmed its sovereignty over the islands like other islands in the South China Sea, and dispatched patrol force to the islands, but this was challenged by the French.
- After the fall of the nationalist regime in China in 1949, the Chinese gained control of the eastern half of the Paracel islands. Several small clashes occurred between the French and the communist Chinese naval forces during this period, but eventually a de facto line of control was established with the Chinese occupying Woody Island and the Macclesfield Bank while the remainder were held by Franco-Vietnamese forces.
- In 1951, at the international Treaty of San Francisco conference, Vietnam's representative claimed that both the Paracels and Spratlys are territories of Vietnam, and was met with no challenge from all nations at the event. However, neither mainland China nor Taiwan participated at the conference. Separately, the Taiwan negotiated and signed its own treaty with Japan regarding the islands on April 29, 1952.[52]
- In 1954, according to the Geneva Agreements, which was signed by a number of nations including China,[53][54] Vietnam was partitioned into two states, North Vietnam and South Vietnam. The 17th parallel was used as the provisional military demarcation line, which was effectively extended into the territorial waters. The Paracel archipelago lies below this line and belongs to South Vietnam accordingly.
- In 1956, after the French's withdrawal, South Vietnam replaced the French to have control of the islands. Again, both China and Taiwan politically and diplomatically condemned the decision and reaffirmed their control over the islands. Although the South Vietnamese inherited the same French claim over the entire Paracel Islands, the period was marked by the peace and both sides held onto what was in their control without venturing into other's domain. At the same time, maps and other official documents of the North Vietnam government during this period had shown that the islands belong to China,[55] mainly due to the fact that China was the largest backer of North Vietnam during the Vietnam War.
It's the exact same strategy the PRC used in the Spratly.
- Draw a ridiculous claim on a map.
- Propagandize that it was Chinese territory
- Use military force to make a foot hold on that territory.
- Making the said territory from undisputed to disputed by presence of the military
- Continue to expand and wait for an opportunity to take everything.
- Repeat
Example: Vietnam's Paracel islands, and Spratly islands.
So who gives the S about North VN's PM Pham Van Dong or even the current Vietnamese Governemnt.
