South Vietnam's navy stopped Chinese fishing vessels off Hsisha, also known as the Paracel Islands, twice in February 1959. Vietnamese marines went ashore and arrested 160 Chinese fishermen on one of the islands. Beijing lodged strong protests on February 27, and Saigon had to release all the captives on March 9. A Chinese frigate and a submarine visited Yunghsing or Woody Island, the largest of the Paracels, later in March. The navy set up a land office on the island to coordinate patrols over the waters of the Macclesfield Bank and the Paracel and Spratly Islands.
Undaunted, South Vietnam sent marines to the Paracels to occupy four islets in April 1959. They were stationed there, then. In 1970 and 1971, the Philippines occupied three islets of the Spratlys. In July 1971, the Filipino Ministry of Foreign Affairs lodged protests with Taipei against the deployment of marines on Taiping Island, the largest of the Spratlys. Manila complained that the deployment "threatens" the security of the Philippines. Taipei took no action, and the Filipinos were able to occupy three more Spratly islets.
South Vietnam continued to harass Chinese fishermen working over Paracel waters in 1973. A sea battle was fought between South Vietnam and the People's Republic on January 19, 1974. The Chinese won the battle, placing the Paracels under their control.
Saigon fell in April 1975, and the North Vietnamese invaded the Paracels, occupying five islets. Yunghsing, however, wasn't invaded. Hanoi also claimed sovereignty over the Paracels and the Spratlys on May 15. Taipei reiterated on March 19 and May 12 that the Paracels and the Spratlys are part of the "traditional" territory of the Republic of China.
On May 12, 1977, Hanoi declared a 2000-mile exclusive economic zone covering the Paracels and the Spratlys and their continental shelf. Manila declared occupation of seven islets of the Spratlys on March 4, 1978. They were placed under the jurisdiction of Palawan Province on June 11. A smaller islet was occupied by the Filipinos on August 1980.
The People's Liberation Army (PLA) sent two bombers on November 8, 1980 on a reconnaissance mission over the Spratly Islands. The PLA Navy patrolled the Spratly waters between May 16 and June 14, 1983.
Beijing was commissioned by the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to erect five oceanic weather observatories in 1987. Construction of one of them, Observatory 74, began on Reef Yungshu (Eternal Summer) in February 1988. Chinese warships patrolled waters around the Spratlys between January 18 and March 14. No landing on Taiping, however, was attempted. A month later, on April 14, the PLA Navy fought another sea battle with a Vietnamese fleet. The Chinese won.The National People's Congress in Beijing adopted two resolutions on the establishment of a province of Hainan on April 13, 1988. All four archipelagoes in the South China Sea were placed under the jurisdiction of the province of Hainan on April 26.
On the other hand, the weather observatory on Eternal Summer was opened in August 1989. A runway was completed on Woody Island in April 1991.
On February 25, 1992 the People's Republic promulgated a territorial waters law to justify construction of establishments on all the isles of the Spratlys it occupies. Then, on July 16, Beijing proclaimed its plan to solve disputes over the South China Sea islands. The People's Republic opposes the internationalization of the question of the South China Sea archipelagoes, proposing instead to shelve the disputes over sovereignty and start joint development of their natural resources.
The National People's Congress ratified the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on May 15, 1996. The Republic of China on Taiwan, ousted from the United Nations in 1971, is not a signatory to the convention concluded in 1982.
On February 1, 2000, the garrison duties on Taiping, the largest island of the Spratlys, were transferred to the National Coast Guard Administration in Taipei. The Marine Corps garrison was withdrawn. Coast guardsmen have since been stationed. A 1,150-meter runway was completed on Taiping in 2006. President Chen Shui-bian paid a whirlwind visit to Taiping aboard a C-130 transport plane on February 2, 2008.
No clashes of any kind occurred over Chungsha or the Macclesfield Bank, which is a group of reefs. Tungsha or the Pratas Islands are under Taiwan's control. But Taiwan has no control whatsoever over Hsisha or the Paracel Islands, though the Ministry of Foreign Affairs reiterated its sovereignty over them earlier last month when Vietnam announced the establishment of a local government on the isles under its occupation. No protests can be filed against the People's Republic, which has placed them and all other South China Sea archipelagoes under the jurisdiction of Hainan and claims Taiwan as one of its provinces.
As the situation on the Spratlys now stands, Taiping, the largest of them, is under Taiwan's full control. Eleven other smaller isles of the Spratlys are fully controlled by the People's Republic, while Vietnam occupies another 27 that are even smaller and include reefs. The Philippines is in actual control of eight islets and reefs. Still another three islets are occupied by Malaysia. Brunei claims sovereignty over Nantung-chiao, a small uninhabited isle, but stations no troops. Indonesia does not claim sovereignty over any isles of the four island groups, but its 200-mile EEZ overlaps that of the Spratlys.
Taiwan is excluded from Beijing's plan to develop oil and other resources in the South China Sea jointly with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, of which the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia are members. They all made submissions by May 13 to the United Nations Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf, which would clarify the limits of their sea claims when the continental shelf extends more than 200 nautical miles beyond a baseline such as their coasts. But Taiwan could not, for it is not a signatory to the convention on the law of the sea and was not asked to make a
submission. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs must proclaim Taiwan's claim at the earliest possible date lest it should be perceived as having given up any claim without complaint. In the meantime, Taipei has to try to join in Beijing's initiative to jointly develop the South China Sea resources with the ASEAN states which also claim sovereignty over the four island groups, in particular the Spratlys.
（本文刊載於98.06.29，The China Post，本文代表作者個人意見）