US Navy Photo
The countries established such a claim with a Nine Dash Line throughout the region that, Beijing and Taiwan assert, show how the entirety of the South China Sea belongs to them.
Whether or not the Nine Dash Line has any basis in
Instead, Chinese Vice Admiral Yuan Yubai was responsible for the most ridiculous claim for why all of the South China Sea belongs to Beijing.
Speaking at a
"And the sea from the Han dynasty a long time ago where the Chinese people have been working and producing from the sea," Yuan continued.
Yuan's comments came following a comment at the conference by Japanese Vid Admiral Umio Otsuka, who said that deterrence was becoming increasingly important throughout East and South Asia. To back up his views, Otsuka pointed at China's expansionism throughout both regions.
After Yuan responded to Otsuka that the region belonged to China due to the sea bearing China's name, Yuan took a slightly more conciliatory measure by saying that "the real situation in the South China Sea at present is safety and freedom of navigation."
Currently, the various islands and atolls in the South China Sea are claimed and disputed in a various mix principally by Taiwan, Vietnam, China, the Philippines.
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