49. In August 1956, First Secretary Donald E. Webster of the United States institution in Taiwan made an oral request to China's Taiwan authorities for permission for the United States military personnel to conduct geodetic survey in Huangyan Dao, Shuangzi Qunjiao, Jinghong Dao, Hongxiu Dao and Nanwei Dao of Zhongsha Qundao and Nansha Qundao. China's Taiwan authorities later approved the above request.

50. In December 1960, the United States government sent a letter to China's Taiwan authorities to "request permission be granted" for its military personnel to carry out survey at Shuangzi Qunjiao, Jinghong Dao and Nanwei Dao of Nansha Qundao. China's Taiwan authorities approved this application.

51. In 1972, Japan reiterated its adherence to the terms of Article 8 of the Potsdam Proclamation in the Joint Communiqué of the Government of the People's Republic of China and the Government of Japan.

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".

53. The 14th Assembly of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, held from 17 March to 1 April 1987, deliberated on the Global Sea-Level Observing System Implementation Plan 1985-1990 (IOC/INF-663 REV) submitted by the Commission's Secretariat. The Plan integrated Xisha Qundao and Nansha Qundao into the Global Sea-Level Observing System, and explicitly listed these two Islands under "People's Republic of China". For the implementation of this Plan, the Chinese government was commissioned to build five marine observation stations, including one on Nansha Qundao and one on Xisha Qundao.

54. Nanhai Zhudao have long been widely recognized by the international community as part of China's territory. The encyclopedias, yearbooks and maps published in many countries mark Nansha Qundao as belonging to China. For example this is done in, among others, the 1960 Worldmark Encyclopedia of the Nations by the Worldmark Press published in the United States, the 1966 New China Yearbook by the Far Eastern Booksellers published in Japan; the Welt-Atlas published in 1957, 1958 and 1961 in the Federal Republic of Germany, the 1958 Atlas Zur Erd-Und Länderkunde and the 1968 Haack Großer Weltatlas published in the German Democratic Republic, the Atlas Mira from 1954 to 1959 and the 1957 Administrativno-territorialnoe Delenie Zarubezhnyh Stran published in the Soviet Union, the 1959 Világatlasz and the 1974 Képes Politikai és Gazdasági Világatlasz published in Hungary, the 1959 Malý Atlas Svĕta published in Czechoslovakia, the 1977 Atlas Geografic Scolar published in Romania, the 1965 Atlas international Larousse politique et économique, the 1969 Atlas moderne Larousse published by Libraire Larousse in France, the maps in the 1972 and 1983 World Encyclopedia, the 1985 Grand Atlas World by Heibon Sha, and the 1980 Sekai to Sono Kunikuni published by Japan Geographic Data Center in Japan.

II. Origin of the Relevant Disputes Between China and the Philippines in the South China Sea

55. The core of the relevant disputes between China and the Philippines in the South China Sea lies in the territorial issues caused by the Philippines' invasion and illegal occupation of some islands and reefs of China's Nansha Qundao. In addition, with the development of the international law of the sea, a maritime delimitation dispute also arose between the two states regarding certain sea areas of the South China Sea.

i. The Philippines' invasion and illegal occupation caused disputes with China over some islands and reefs of Nansha Qundao

56. The territory of the Philippines is defined by a series of international treaties, including the 1898 Treaty of Peace between the United States of America and the Kingdom of Spain (the Treaty of Paris), the 1900 Treaty between the United States of America and the Kingdom of Spain for Cession of Outlying Islands of the Philippines (the Treaty of Washington), and the 1930 Convention between His Majesty in Respect of the United Kingdom and the President of the United States regarding the Boundary between the State of North Borneo and the Philippine Archipelago.