Full Text: China Adheres to the Position of Settling Through Negotiation the Relevant Disputes Between China and the Philippines in the South China Sea

40. In May 1996, the Chinese government announced the baselines of the part of the territorial sea adjacent to the mainland which are composed of all the straight lines joining the 49 adjacent base points from Gaojiao of Shandong to Junbijiao of Hainan Dao, as well as the baselines of the territorial sea adjacent to Xisha Qundao which are composed of all the straight lines joining the 28 adjacent base points, and declared it would announce the remaining baselines of the territorial sea at another time.

41. In June 1998, China promulgated the Law of the People's Republic of China on the Exclusive Economic Zone and the Continental Shelf, establishing China's basic system of exclusive economic zone and continental shelf. This Law explicitly states: "The provisions in this Law shall not affect the historic rights that the People's Republic of China enjoys."

42. In June 2012, the State Council approved the abolition of the Office of Xisha Qundao, Nansha Qundao and Zhongsha Qundao and the simultaneous establishment of prefecture-level Sansha City with jurisdiction over Xisha Qundao, Nansha Qundao and Zhongsha Qundao and the relevant waters.

43. China attaches great importance to ecological and fishery resource preservation in the South China Sea. In 1999, China began to enforce summer fishing moratorium in the South China Sea and has done so since that time. By the end of 2015, China had established six national aquatic biological nature reserves and six such reserves at provincial level, covering a total area of 2.69 million hectares, as well as seven national aquatic germplasm resources conservation areas with a total area of 1.28 million hectares.

44. Since the 1950s, the Taiwan authorities of China have maintained a military presence on Taiping Dao of Nansha Qundao. For a long time, they have also maintained civil service and administration bodies and carried out natural resources development on the island.

iii. China's sovereignty over Nanhai Zhudao is widely acknowledged in the international community

45. After the end of the Second World War, China recovered and resumed the exercise of sovereignty over Nanhai Zhudao. Many countries recognize that Nanhai Zhudao are part of China's territory.

46. In 1951, it was decided at the San Francisco Peace Conference that Japan would renounce all right, title and claim to Nansha Qundao and Xisha Qundao. In 1952, the Japanese government officially stated that it had renounced all right, title, and claim to Taiwan, Penghu, as well as Nansha Qundao and Xisha Qundao. In the same year, Xisha Qundao and Nansha Qundao, which Japan renounced under the San Francisco Peace Treaty, together with Dongsha Qundao and Zhongsha Qundao, were all marked as belonging to China on the 15th map, Southeast Asia, of the Standard World Atlas recommended by the then Japanese Foreign Minister Katsuo Okazaki with his signature.

47. In October 1955, the International Civil Aviation Organization held a conference in Manila, which was attended by representatives from the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Japan, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, the Philippines, the authorities from South Vietnam and China's Taiwan authorities. The Filipino and French representatives served as chair and vice chair respectively. It was requested in Resolution No. 24 adopted at the conference that China's Taiwan authorities should enhance meteorological observation on Nansha Qundao, and no opposition or reservation was registered.

48. On 4 September 1958, the Chinese government promulgated the Declaration of the Government of the People's Republic of China on China's Territorial Sea, proclaiming a twelve-nautical-mile territorial sea breadth, and stipulating that, "This provision applies to all territories of the People's Republic of China, including [...] Dongsha Qundao, Xisha Qundao, Zhongsha Qundao, Nansha Qundao, and all other islands belonging to China." On 14 September, Prime Minister Pham Van Dong of the Vietnamese government sent a diplomatic note to Zhou Enlai, Premier of the State Council of China, solemnly stating that "the government of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam recognizes and supports the declaration of the government of the People's Republic of China on its decision concerning China's territorial sea made on 4 September 1958" and "the government of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam respects this decision."