Very pleased that my chapter on "History as Problem, History as Solution: A Means to Resolve the South China Sea Disputes" has just been published in this @unihh collection. Other authors include @R_Ebbighausen @SteinTonnesson @FelixHeiduk @HSFK_PRIF
peterlang.com/view/978363180…
peterlang.com/view/978363180…
My argument is as follows...
To untangle the rival claims to territorial sovereignty in the South China Sea we need to understand the historical evidence. No state has ever physically occupied ALL the features that they claim. This applies to China/Taiwan, Malaysia, the Philippines, Brunei and Vietnam 
We should also take inspiration from the International Court of Justice’s 2008 judgement on the Pedra Branca dispute. It was able to rule that features just 1km apart could belong to different countries. 2/8
3. If we take the same approach to the disputed features of the South China Sea - ie if we look at individual features rather than groups of features - it becomes possible to disaggregate and disentangle the claims. (This would even be true for rival outposts on Tizard Bank.) 3/8
4. We don’t need to understand the entire history of the South China Sea, we just need to know which states have PHYSICALLY occupied or maintained occupation of individual features. In other words, simply drawing lines on maps doesn’t count for anything...
5. Most of this information is already in the public domain - or can be found with a little research. Then we can fill out a little matrix with the various claims… 5/8
6. My conclusion is that - with a few exceptions - the current pattern of occupations of features in the South China Sea is the only one that has ever existed. (Exceptions include the western half of the Paracels and Southwest Cay in the Spratlys) 6/8
7. The easiest way to resolve the territorial disputes in the South China Sea is therefore for all states to recognise the status quo. No-one has to give up anything that they already control. Instead, they just recognise reality. 7/8
