copenlu/druid huggingface dataset:
Claim: Paracel Islands is a territory of Republic of China (Paracel Islands, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2024-01-25): Even more important, Hanoi’s contemporary claims over the Paracel Islands rest on it being the rightful heir to pre-1975 Republic of Vietnam’s sovereignty. Although the Vietnamese government released a statement of protest against Chinese occupation of the Paracel Islands on the occasion, many writers saw Hanoi’s absence of official commemorations this year as well as its attempt to control and sometimes prevent unofficial ones held by the civil society in the past as an example of Hanoi’s abhorrence of the former South Vietnamese government and its subservience to China at the expense of Vietnam’s national sovereignty. Some of them did not shy away from condemning the Communist Party of Vietnam as cowards.
Claim: Paracel Islands is a territory of Republic of China (Paracel Islands, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2020-07-02): The Department of Defense is concerned about the People’s Republic of China (PRC) decision to conduct military exercises around the Paracel Islands in the South China Sea on July 1-5. [...] The military exercises are the latest in a long string of PRC actions to assert unlawful maritime claims and disadvantage its Southeast Asian neighbors in the South China Sea. The PRC’s actions stand in contrast to its pledge to not militarize the South China Sea and the United States' vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific region, in which all nations, large and small, are secure in their sovereignty, free from coercion, and able to pursue economic growth consistent with accepted international rules and norms. The Department of Defense will continue to monitor the situation with the expectation that the PRC will reduce its militarization and coercion of its neighbors in the South China Sea. We urge all parties to exercise restraint and not undertake military activities that might aggravate disputes in the South China Sea.
Claim: Paracel Islands is a territory of Republic of China (Paracel Islands, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2024-10-09): It is commonly believed that European sailors passing Taiwan record the island’s name as Ilha Formosa, or beautiful island. [...] Following the 1951 San Francisco Peace Treaty with Japan signed by 48 Allied nations on behalf of the United Nations, the Treaty of Peace is signed between the ROC and Japan at Taipei Guest House, formally ending the state of war between the two parties. It is recognized that under Article 2 of the San Francisco Treaty, Japan has renounced all right, title, and claim to Taiwan (Formosa) and Penghu (the Pescadores) as well as the Spratly Islands and the Paracel Islands. All treaties, conventions and agreements concluded before Dec. 9, 1941, between China and Japan become null and void as a consequence of the war. [...] The ROC inks the Cross-Straits Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) with China to institutionalize economic and trade relations across the Taiwan Strait.
Claim: Paracel Islands is a territory of Republic of China (Paracel Islands, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2016-07-13): 33. In August 1951, Foreign Minister Zhou Enlai, in his Statement on the United States-British Draft Peace Treaty with Japan and the San Francisco Conference, pointed out that "as a matter of fact, just like all the Nan Sha Islands, Chung Sha Islands and Tung Sha Islands, Si Sha Islands (the Paracel Islands) and Nan Wei Island (Spratly Island) have always been China’s territory, occupied by Japan for some time during the war of aggression waged by Japanese imperialism, they were all taken over by the then Chinese Government, following Japan’s surrender", "Whether or not the United States-British Draft Treaty contains provisions on this subject and no matter how these provisions are worded, the inviolable sovereignty of the People’s Republic of China over Nan Wei Island (Spratly Island) and Si Sha Islands (the Paracel Islands) will not be in any way affected." [...] 52. It was reported by AFP that, on 4 February 1974, the then Indonesian Foreign Minister Adam Malik stated that, "si nous regardons les cartes actuelles, elles montrent que les deux archipels des Paracels [Xisha Qundao] et des Spratleys [Nansha Qundao] appartiennent à la Chine", and that because we recognize the existence of only one China, "cela signifie que, pour nous, ces archipels appartiennent à la République populaire de Chine".
Claim: Paracel Islands is a territory of Republic of China (Paracel Islands, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2021-11-05): China15,16 25 August 2006 [...] Declaration under article 298, paragraph 1: [...] 3 August 1988 24 June 1985 22 October 2013
Claim: Paracel Islands is a territory of Republic of China (Paracel Islands, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2024-01-29): Article 2(f) of the Treaty of Peace with Japan, signed on September 8, 1951, stipulates that, "Japan renounces all right, title and claim to the Spratly Islands and to the Paracel Islands," but prior to this, on August 15, 1951, then Premier Zhou Enlai had stated the following, "The draft stipulates that Japan renounces all rights to the Spratly and Paracel Islands, but again deliberately fails to mention the issue of restoring sovereignty over these islands. As a matter of fact, just like all the Nan Sha Islands, Chung Sha Islands and Tung Sha Islands, the Si Sha Islands (the Paracel Islands) and Nan Wei Island (Spratly Island) have always been China’s territory."3 In light of the name of the "Map of South China Sea Islands," and subsequent statements by the Chinese government, such as the one above, it is reasonable to interpret that in essence the nine-dash line was initially considered to be a line indicating China’s claims of ownership over the islands.
Claim: Paracel Islands is a territory of Republic of China (Paracel Islands, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2015-11-07): China’s claims in the South China Sea include claims to territorial sovereignty over island groups as well as claims to maritime jurisdiction. As with the claim made by Taiwan, the People’s Republic of China claims sovereignty over the Spratly Islands (Nansha), Paracel Islands (Xisha), and Macclesfield Bank (Zhongsha). Vietnam also claims the Paracel Islands and Spratly Islands, while Malaysia, the Philippines, and Brunei claim some of the Spratly Islands. China has controlled part of the Paracels since the 1950s and the entire Paracel Islands archipelago since 1974, and also currently occupies seven reefs in the Spratly Islands. [...] March 1959: China establishes an administrative office for the Paracel Islands, Spratly Islands and Macclesfield Bank in Guangong Province, referred to as "Sansha" or "three sands." [...] February 1992: China issues a Law on the Territorial Sea and the Contiguous Zone, which affirms China’s claims to sovereignty over the Paracel Island, Spratly Islands and Macclesfield Bank.
Claim: Paracel Islands is a territory of Republic of China (Paracel Islands, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2024-09-30): It is recognised that under Article 2 of the Treaty of Peace which Japan signed at the city of San Francisco on 8 September 1951 (hereinafter referred to as the San Francisco Treaty), Japan has renounced all right, title, and claim to Taiwan (Formosa) and Penghu (the Pescadores) as well as the Spratley Islands and the Paracel Islands. [...] For the purposes of the present Treaty, nationals of the Republic of China shall be deemed to include all the inhabitants and former inhabitants of Taiwan (Formosa) and Penghu (the Pescadores) and their descendents who are of the Chinese nationality in accordance with the laws and regulations which have been or may hereafter be enforced by the Republic of China in Taiwan (Formosa) and Penghu (the Pescadores); and juridical persons of the Republic of China shall be deemed to include all those registered under the laws and regulations which have been or may hereafter be enforced by the Republic of China in Taiwan (Formosa) and Penghu (the Pescadores). [...] Done in duplicate at Taipei, this Twenty Eighth day of the Fourth month of the Forty First year of the REPUBLIC OF CHINA, corresponding to the Twenty Eighth day of the Fourth month of the Twenty Seventh year of SHOWA of Japan and to the Twenty Eighth day of April in the year One Thousand Nine Hundred and Fifty Two.
Claim: Paracel Islands is a territory of Republic of China (Paracel Islands, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2016-06-01): These are Paracel Islands [Xisha Islands=Chinese name for Paracel Islands, Hoang Sa Islands=Vietnamese name for Paracel Islands, Yong Xing=Chinese name for Woody Island]; Spratly Islands [Nansha Islands=Chinese name for Spratly Islands, Kalayaan Island Group (KIG)=Philippine name for group in the Spratly Islands, Truong Sa Islands=Vietnamese name for Spratly Islands, Tai Ping=new Chinese name for Itu Aba]; Dongsha Islands=Chinese name for Pratas Islands; Zhongsha Islands=Chinese name embracing Macclesfield Bank and certain rocks, sandbanks, and reefs; and Huang Yan=Chinese name for Scarborough Shoal or Reef. See for the presentation, Lori Fisler Damrosch and Bernard H. Oxman, Agora: the South China Sea, editors’ introduction, 107 AJIL (2013), 95-97 at 97. Taiwan’s claims are similar to the one asserted by China. [...] China first expressed its intentions regarding the South China Sea in the international arena in its 4 September 1958 Declaration on China’s Territorial Sea. Although paragraph 1 clearly indicates that China considered the Pratas Islands, Paracel Islands, Macclesfield Bank, and Spratly Islands to belong to its territories, the declaration provided no legal explanation. Its sole purpose was, it seems, to define the limits of its sovereignty as a pure fact.
Claim: Paracel Islands is a territory of Republic of China (Paracel Islands, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2015-12-15): Taiwan: Huayang Reef, 華陽礁 Vietnam: Bãi Châu Viên China has 20 outposts in the Paracel Islands and 7 in the Spratlys. It also controls Scarborough Shoal, which it seized in 2012, via a constant coast guard presence, though it has not built any facilities on the feature. Since 2013, China has engaged in unprecedented dredging and artificial island-building in the Spratlys, creating 3,200 acres of new land, along with a substantial expansion of its presence in the Paracels.
Claim: Paracel Islands is a territory of Republic of China (Paracel Islands, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2022-03-18): The South China Sea Islands are part of the territory of the Republic of China. That the ROC is entitled to all rights over the South China Sea Islands and their relevant waters in accordance with international law and the law of the sea is beyond dispute. Issues in the South China Sea are highly complicated, given the overlapping claims by claimants, number of States involved, regional security and diplomatic issues, as well as the political and economic interests of the States concerned. The ROC government will continue to engage in cooperative consultations with each of the States. The government will firmly safeguard the ROC’s territorial sovereignty in the South China Sea, as well as the rights over relevant waters it is entitled to under international law and the law of the sea. It will not renounce its sovereignty or legal rights.
Claim: Paracel Islands is a territory of Republic of China (Paracel Islands, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2024-10-05): Paracel Islands, group of about 130 small coral islands and reefs in the South China Sea. They lie about 250 miles (400 km) east of central Vietnam and about 220 miles (350 km) southeast of Hainan Island, China. Apart from a few isolated, outlying islands (Triton in the south, Lincoln in the east), they are divided into the Amphitrite group in the northeast and the Crescent group in the west. The low, barren islands, none of which exceeds 1 square mile (2.5 square km), lack fresh water. Turtles live on the islands, and seabirds have left nests and guano deposits, but there are no permanent human residents.
Claim: Paracel Islands is a territory of Republic of China (Paracel Islands, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2024-05-10): The PRC, Taiwan, and Vietnam each claim sovereignty over the Paracel Islands. In violation of international law, all three claimants require either permission or advance notification before a military vessel or warship engages in "innocent passage" through the territorial sea. Under customary international law as reflected in the Law of the Sea Convention, the ships of all States – including their warships – enjoy the right of innocent pass through the territorial sea. The unilateral imposition of any authorization or advance-notification requirement for innocent passage is unlawful. By engaging in innocent passage without giving prior notification to or asking permission from any of the claimants, the United States challenged these unlawful restrictions imposed by the PRC, Taiwan, and Vietnam. The United States demonstrated that innocent passage is not subject to such restrictions. The United States also challenged the PRC’s 1996 declaration of straight baselines encompassing the Paracel Islands. Regardless of which claimant has sovereignty over these islands, it is unlawful to draw straight baselines around the Paracel Islands in their entirety. Customary international law as reflected in the Law of the Sea Convention is both clear and comprehensive regarding the circumstances under which States can depart from "normal" baselines. The PRC-claimed straight baselines violate customary international law reflected in Article 7 of the Law of the Sea Convention. Furthermore, international law does not permit continental State, like the PRC, to establish baselines around entire dispersed island groups. With these baselines, the PRC has attempted to claim more internal waters, territorial sea, exclusive economic zone, and continental shelf than it is entitled to under international law.
Claim: Paracel Islands is a territory of Republic of China (Paracel Islands, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2022-09-08): The Republic of China (ROC) proclaims that the Nansha Islands (Spratly Islands, 南沙群島), Xisha Islands (Paracel Islands, 西沙群島), Zhongsha Islands (Macclesfield Bank, 中沙群島), and Dongsha Islands, as well as their surrounding waters, are an "inherent part of ROC territory and waters." The ROC argues that its rights over these territories are based on history, geography, and international law. Its historical claims in the South China Sea date back to 1947, when Chiang Kai-shek (蔣中正) drew a U-shaped, "eleven-dash line" (十一段線) on a map around the territory in the South China Sea that he claimed as encompassing ROC territory. After coming to power in 1949, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) changed the "eleven-dash line" to a "nine-dash line" (九段線), though neither concepts are considered legal terminology. Therein lies Taiwan’s dilemma: changing the ROC’s historical claims would indicate—especially to Beijing—that the island democracy was abandoning its historical political identity and moving towards an inherently Taiwanese national identity, or even independence.
Claim: Paracel Islands is a territory of Republic of China (Paracel Islands, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2020-07-15): Backgrounder by Lindsay Maizland January 31, 2022 - [...] Interactive by Olivia Angelino, Thomas J. Bollyky, Elle Ruggiero and Isabella Turilli February 1, 2023 Global Health Program - [...] Webinar with Carolyn Kissane and Irina A. Faskianos April 12, 2023 -
Claim: Paracel Islands is a territory of Vietnam (Paracel Islands, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2024-10-08): The Paracel Islands, also known as the Xisha Islands (simplified Chinese: 西沙群岛; traditional Chinese: 西沙群島; pinyin: xīshā qúndǎo; lit. 'West Sand Archipelago')[2] and the Hoàng Sa Archipelago (Vietnamese: Quần đảo Hoàng Sa, lit. 'Yellow Sand Archipelago'), are a disputed archipelago in the South China Sea under de facto administration by the People's Republic of China since its defeat of South Vietnam in the 1974 Battle of the Paracel Islands. [...] UNCLOS EEZ [edit]The Paracel islands are claimed by both China and Vietnam and the majority of those islands lie within 200 NM of both China's and Vietnam's geographic baselines under the Law of the Sea.[70] [...] - 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.[87] However, neither the PRC nor the ROC participated in the conference. Separately, the ROC negotiated and signed its own treaty with Japan regarding the islands on April 29, 1952.[57][122]
Claim: Paracel Islands is a territory of Vietnam (Paracel Islands, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2023-07-07): Vietnam hotly disputes China's historical account, saying China had never claimed sovereignty over the islands before the 1940s. Vietnam says it has actively ruled over both the Paracels and the Spratlys since the 17th Century - and has the documents to prove it. [...] In 1974, the Chinese seized the Paracels from Vietnam, killing more than 70 Vietnamese troops. [...] In May 2014, the introduction by China of a drilling rig into waters near the Paracel Islands led to multiple collisions between Vietnamese and Chinese ships.
Claim: Paracel Islands is a territory of Vietnam (Paracel Islands, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2024-10-07): The Battle of the Paracel Islands (Chinese: 西沙海战, Pinyin: Xisha Haizhan；Vietnamese: Hải chiến Hoàng Sa) was an engagement between the Chinese and South Vietnamese navies near the Paracel Islands on January 19, 1974. The battle was part of an attempt by the South Vietnamese navy to remove the Chinese navy from the area towards the end of the Vietnam War. Prior to the conflict, part of the Paracel Islands was controlled by China and another part was controlled by South Vietnam. The battle resulted in a victory for China over South Vietnam. Consequently, the PRC occupied the portion formerly controlled by South Vietnam and established full de facto control over the Paracels. Background [edit]Confrontation in the Paracels [edit]The Paracels are in the South China Sea approximately 300 kilometers south of China and 370 kilometers east Vietnam. The islands are divided into the northern Amphitrite Group, and the Crescent Group 80 kilometers to the southwest. The islands were subject to overlapping territorial claims by multiple countries. By the early 1970s, the Amphitrite Group and Crescent Group were controlled by China and South Vietnam respectively, and both countries were engaged in hydrocarbon exploration.[2]
Claim: Paracel Islands is a territory of Vietnam (Paracel Islands, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2024-10-09): Last Friday, the Philippines condemned China’s alleged assault of Vietnamese fishermen in the South China Sea, where Manila and Beijing are also locked in numerous confrontations that have sparked concerns of armed conflict. Manila’s National Security Council said it was standing with Vietnam, denouncing what it called "violent and illegal actions of Chinese maritime authorities against Vietnamese fishermen" near the Paracel Islands on September 29. [...] China claims nearly the entire South China Sea, despite overlapping maritime claims by Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam.
Claim: Paracel Islands is a territory of Vietnam (Paracel Islands, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2024-10-03): Opinion | Why a code of conduct for the South China Sea remains out of reach For South China Sea code of conduct negotiations to succeed, the US must refrain from interfering behind the scenes, while Asean members must commit to resisting China’s influence. However, this is all unlikely.
Claim: Paracel Islands is a territory of Vietnam (Paracel Islands, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2014-06-11): A largely unpopulated archipelago administered by China but claimed by Vietnam, the Paracel Islands have become the flashpoint in an increasingly aggressive territorial dispute between the two neighbours, ideological allies as fellow communists but with stark divisions. China’s Haiyang Shiyou 981 oil rig is drilling between the Paracels. Vietnam says the vessel is within its 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone and on its continental shelf. China says it is operating within its waters. [...] "China has irrefutable sovereignty over the Spratly Islands and the seas nearby. We demand that Vietnam and the Philippines stop any behaviour that picks quarrels and causes trouble . . . and not do anything to complicate or magnify the dispute."
Claim: Paracel Islands is a territory of Vietnam (Paracel Islands, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2014-01-23): On January 16, 1974, the Republic of Vietnam Navy (RVN) discovered the presence of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) in the Crescent Group in the western Paracel Islands, which was held by South Vietnam. This was an unexpected development, because notwithstanding the reduced U.S. military assistance to Saigon after the signing of the Paris Peace Accords in 1973, and subsequent reduction of South Vietnamese garrisons on the islands, the Chinese had not taken unilateral actions to subvert the status quo – by which the Amphitrite Group in the eastern Paracels and the Crescent Group were respectively under Chinese and South Vietnamese control. Over the next two days, the opposing naval forces jostled with one another in close-proximity maneuvers off the islands, before a firefight erupted as the South Vietnamese troops attempted to recapture Duncan Island. The skirmish subsequently escalated with overwhelming Chinese reinforcements deployed to the clash zone, including close air support staged from nearby Hainan Island and missile-armed Hainan-class patrol vessels. Shorn of American naval support, given that the U.S. Navy Seventh Fleet was then scaling down its presence in the South China Sea following the peace accords of 1973, the RVN was utterly defeated. Beijing swiftly exploited the naval victory with an amphibious landing in force to complete its control of all the Paracel Islands.
Claim: Paracel Islands is a territory of Vietnam (Paracel Islands, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2024-01-25): On one hand, Hanoi needs historical evidence of China’s encroachment to assert its territorial claim in the increasingly tense South China Sea today. A unified Vietnam led by the CPV inherited the territorial claims of South Vietnam (also known as the Republic of Vietnam) over the Paracel and Spratly archipelagos. On the other hand, it faces a dilemma recognizing the South Vietnamese government, which was its enemy during and even beyond the Vietnam War. [...] In 1977, the Vietnamese government issued a "Statement on the Territorial Sea, the Contiguous Zone, the Exclusive Economic Zone, and the Continental Shelf," in which it asserted that the Spratly and Paracel Islands were an inseparable part of Vietnamese territory. [...] This complicates official remembrance, as it was South Vietnam that spearheaded the efforts to maintain sovereignty over the Paracel Islands. That involved cooperation with numerous countries. Thiệu asked France to provide full documentation of territorial sovereignty disputes in the South China Sea. In October 1973, just a few months prior to the Paracel battle, the National Liberation Front of the South, known in Western media as the "Viet Cong," announced its intention to liberate areas "illegally occupied by the enemy."