China on Tuesday reasserted
claims over South China Sea island groups at the heart of a
multinational territorial dispute considered a potential Asian
flashpoint.
China has "indisputable sovereignty" over the Spratly and
Paracel islands, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said, rejecting
recent comments from Vietnam, which also asserts dominion over the
islands believed to sit above large oil and natural gas reserves in
strategic shipping lanes.
Chinese forces seized the western
Paracels from Vietnam in 1974 and sunk three Vietnamese naval vessels
in a 1988 sea battle. The sides have yet to demarcate their sea border
and many Vietnamese remain suspicious of their giant northern neighbor.
Vietnamese
Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Nguyen Phuong Nga on Monday protested a
Chinese plan to develop tourism in the region, saying it "seriously
violates Vietnam's sovereignty ... causes tension and further
complicates the situation."
That followed the Chinese Cabinet's
unveiling of plans Monday to transform the southern island of Hainan
into a major international tourism destination over the next decade and
expand oil and natural gas exploration in the area.
The
announcement did not specifically mention the Paracel and Spratly
island chains, but China says they fall under Hainan's administration.
China
and Vietnam both cite historical and archaeological evidence to back up
their claims to the islands, and China has increasingly sought to
cement its hold through international maritime law.
Taiwan, Malaysia, Brunei, and the Philippines also claim all or part of the Spratlys.
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China can reject all it wants, the truth is those islands don't belong to China. And neither does the water surrounding it.