The South China Sea: The Struggle for Power in Asia

317 Pages·2014·1.69 MB·English

by  Bill Hayton

THE SOUTH CHINA SEA
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THE
SOUTH CHINA SEA
THE STRUGGLE FOR POWER IN ASIA
BILL HAYTON
YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS
NEW HAVEN AND LONDON
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Copyright © 2014 Bill Hayton
All rights reserved. This book may not be reproduced in whole or in part, in any form
(beyond that copying permitted by Sections 107 and 108 of the U.S. Copyright Law and
except by reviewers for the public press) without written permission from the publishers.
For information about this and other Yale University Press publications, please contact:
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Typeset in Adobe Garamond Pro by IDSUK (DataConnection) Ltd
Printed in Great Britain by TJ International Ltd, Padstow, Cornwall
Library of Congress Control Number: 2014944966
ISBN 978-0-300-18683-3
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
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This book was begun while I was working in the BBC in London
and finished while I was seconded to the reform of Myanmar Radio
and Television. It is dedicated to my friends and colleagues in
two very different newsrooms.
“News is what somebody does not want you to print. All
the rest is advertising.”
Anon (though attributed to many people)
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Contents
Maps ix
Introduction xiii
1 Wrecks and Wrongs: Prehistory to 1500 1
2 Maps and Lines: 1500 to 1948 29
3 Danger and Mischief: 1946 to 1995 61
4 Rocks and Other Hard Places: the South China
Sea and International Law 90
5 Something and Nothing: Oil and Gas in the
South China Sea 121
6 Drums and Symbols: Nationalism 151
7 Ants and Elephants: Diplomacy 180
8 Shaping the Battlefield: Military Matters 209
9 Cooperation and its Opposites: Resolving the
Disputes 239
Epilogue 266
Notes 270
Acknowledgements and Further Reading 285
Index 289
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0 200 miles
N Xiamen Taipei
C HPearl RiveIr GNuangzhouA FUJIAN wan StraitTAIWAN
GUANGDONG Tai
RVed RivHeraipHhoannogi GUANZGhXanIjiang Macao Hong Kong Pratas Is.KaohsiungLuzon Strait
Gulf of
I Tonkin Haikou
Hainan
E
Sanya
S
L Paracel
A T Hue Islands Woody I. E
Da Nang Truro Shoal Luzon
O
N
S N Triton I. Macclesfield
Bank
Scarborough Shoal I
Subic Bay Manila
A S O U T H C H I N A P
ng
Meko S E A P
Cam Ranh Bay
C A M B O D I A M
North Danger Reed Bank I
Bank
Phnom Penh
Ho Chi Minh City Thitu I. L
Itu Aba I.
Phu Quy
I
Palawan
Spratly Islands H
Gulf of Con Son Spratly I. P
Thailand
Vanguard Louisa
Bank Reef
Kota Kinabalu
SABAH
Bandar Seri Begawan
BRUNEI
Natuna
(Indonesia)
SARAWAK
M A L A Y S I A
Kuching
SINGAPORE
B O R N E O
I N D O N E S I A
The South China Sea – known as the East Sea in Vietnam and the West
Philippine Sea in the Philippines.
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