Last update: 08:00 | 13/07/2014
VietNamNet Bridge – In a new map, China’s 10-dotted line covers over 130 islands, up to 90 percent of the East Sea (South China Sea), instead of more than 80 percent with the nine-dotted line map.
China's vertical map.
On June 23, the Hunan map publishing house announced the “vertical atlas of China”. What is China's motivation behind this act?
So far, China’s maps are always in a rectangle with the horizontal size larger than the vertical size. The horizontal size runs from the northeastern bank of the Yalu River to the Tibetan Plateau in the west.
Vertically, China’s land only runs from the Inner Mongolia plateau in the north to Hainan Island. The total length is over 3,000 km.
Reasoning that the horizontal map does not show the nine-dash line that China unilaterally declared in the East Sea, China published a vertical map. In the new map, the nine-dash line becomes the ten-dash line.
Notably, with the statement that the nine-dash line is the core interests of China, for the first time in history, the vertical size of the map of China is longer than the horizontal size.
The 3,000 km of the vertical line is now added with over 2,000 km to become 5,500 km, compared to the 5,200 km of the horizontal size.
How can China’s national administrative, national sovereignty map be changed like that?
And here is the reply of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Hua Chunying in a press conference on June 25: "The purpose of the new map is to serve the Chinese people, so the outsiders should not pay attention to that map."
China does not want the outside world to pay too much attention to this absurd map. But immediately the international community has voiced its concerns.
The Philippines’ Department of Foreign Affairs issued a statement saying that the new map, using a 10-dash line as demarcation, shows China’s unreasonably expansive claim that is clearly contrary to international law, particularly the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea in 1982.
This act of China is completely unacceptable as it runs counter to international law and the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea to which China is a party, the ministry said in its statement.
The ministry's spokesman Charles Jose described China's "ambitious expansionism" as the reason for the current tensions in the East Sea. The official asserted that territorial and maritime disputes must be resolved at an international arbitration court.
The US strongly denounced the map and criticized China for disregarding diplomatic means for settling disputes.
India has also strongly protested, saying the map represents a new Chinese land and sea invasion. India said that the Arunachal Pradesh state, which China includes on the map as part of Tibet, is an inseparable part of India’s territory and has been under New Delhi’s control since the two countries’ border war ended in 1962.
International media have also criticized China’s map. The Washington Post on June 27 said the map shouldn't come as a surprise to China’s neighbors.
In an article called “Beijing imposed unreasonable conditions in the East Sea” in France’s Le Monde newspaper, Brice Pedoletti wrote that becoming an ocean power is a key task of Chinese President Xi Jingping to realize the “Chinese dream”.
To realize this dream, China appears willing to use any trick, flout international law and use its military superiority to intimidate smaller countries.
According to Reuters, it’s difficult to believe China’s intentions are peaceful. The daily La Croix of France on June 26 said China is pursuing its ambition to dominate the East Sea and the East China Sea in order to compensate for internal instability.
China’s action has also received opposition from its own people. Chinese geopolitical commentator Wu Ge wrote on the Weibo social network that like China, the US, the UK or any other country could just draw a new map to claim territory in other countries.
Commenting on this incident, Dr. Christopher Roberts of the University of New South Wales, Australia said: "In recent decades, China's education system has implanted in its people the faith that China’s sovereignty over the East Sea is undisputed".
He quoted a Chinese professor as saying that "If you ask a 50-year-old Chinese to draw the map of their country, they will draw a map with only mainland China. But if you make the similar suggestion to 25-year-old Chinese people, the maps will certainly include the South China Sea (East Sea)".
Quang Minh
No comments:
Post a Comment