"POLITICAL issues deserve diplomatic solutions" (Letters, Feb 29) refers. First, the islands are not bread crumbs but of strategic interest.
China's claim on almost all of the South China Sea right up to the 12 nautical miles territorial waters off the countries bordering it is not right.
They have laid their claims based on historical records. Even their own records admit that it was the Indians along with the Anamese (Vietnamese) and Malays who first called at Chinese ports for trade well before the Chinese merchants sailed the South China Seas towards the south and west.
The Chinese in China still preserve their records unblemished by any bias. For instance, they acknowledge that it was the Indians who took their scholars, Fa Shien and I Tsing in their colendras (huge boats) to India in the 6th and 9th century to be educated in Buddhism. A carving of the huge boats, each capable of carrying 200 men can still be seen on the Borobudur and Angkor ruins.
We have much historical evidence that the Malays living in the coastal regions of the Philippines and Borneo as well as the coastal Vietnamese have been largely dependent on the seas for their livelihood and ventured far.
The fierce Sulu-Malay sea gypsies from the southern Philippines and Borneo were great seafarers and were known to have large boats that ventured far, even to Aceh. In the later part of the 18th century, the Sulu-Malay seafarers used to attack European merchantmen upon the high seas. So the Europeans called them "pirates".
There is ample evidence that others, rather than the Chinese alone have ventured upon the South China Seas protecting their waters and harvesting the bounty offered by it, often staying temporarily in the various atolls to rest, repair and shelter.
It is unfathomable for China to claim the whole territory in such an arbitrary manner without recognising that the many communities living along the vast coastal region bordering the South China Sea have had such deep emotional links with it; forged over the many centuries through exploiting its resources for their very survival and in several instances having to ward off foreign interference.
Siva Ex-Navy
Sitiawan
China's claim on almost all of the South China Sea right up to the 12 nautical miles territorial waters off the countries bordering it is not right.
They have laid their claims based on historical records. Even their own records admit that it was the Indians along with the Anamese (Vietnamese) and Malays who first called at Chinese ports for trade well before the Chinese merchants sailed the South China Seas towards the south and west.
The Chinese in China still preserve their records unblemished by any bias. For instance, they acknowledge that it was the Indians who took their scholars, Fa Shien and I Tsing in their colendras (huge boats) to India in the 6th and 9th century to be educated in Buddhism. A carving of the huge boats, each capable of carrying 200 men can still be seen on the Borobudur and Angkor ruins.
We have much historical evidence that the Malays living in the coastal regions of the Philippines and Borneo as well as the coastal Vietnamese have been largely dependent on the seas for their livelihood and ventured far.
The fierce Sulu-Malay sea gypsies from the southern Philippines and Borneo were great seafarers and were known to have large boats that ventured far, even to Aceh. In the later part of the 18th century, the Sulu-Malay seafarers used to attack European merchantmen upon the high seas. So the Europeans called them "pirates".
There is ample evidence that others, rather than the Chinese alone have ventured upon the South China Seas protecting their waters and harvesting the bounty offered by it, often staying temporarily in the various atolls to rest, repair and shelter.
It is unfathomable for China to claim the whole territory in such an arbitrary manner without recognising that the many communities living along the vast coastal region bordering the South China Sea have had such deep emotional links with it; forged over the many centuries through exploiting its resources for their very survival and in several instances having to ward off foreign interference.
Siva Ex-Navy
Sitiawan