China bares new map covering Kalayaan Islands

MANILA, Philippines — China recently released a new vertical version of the map of its so-called territory encompassing contentious areas claimed by the Philippines and other neighboring states.

China state news agency Xinhua reported that the new map printed by the Hunan Map Publishing House was recognized by State Bureau of Surveying and Mapping Geographic Information.

The map is the first large format full vertical version which shows the mainland and its extensive claims over the South China Sea using its "nine-dash line." Beijing claims that the dashed delimitation is based on historical records, but the Philippines said it is a violation of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

It depicts Philippine-claimed Spratly (Kalayaan) Islands and the Vietnam-claimed Paracel Islands as part of China.

Photo showing the newly issued vertical atlas of China by Hunan Map Publishing House. It clearly shows China's sweeping claims over the South China Sea. Xinhua/Bai Yu

The maritime features in the disputed waterway are no longer depicted as illustrations unlike in older versions.

"Islands in South China Sea share the same scale with mainland and are better shown than traditional maps," the report explained.

The report cited the publishing house saying that the map is significant in promoting awareness of the country's "national territories" as well as the bodies of water that are part of it.

"It will enable the reader a comprehensive understanding of China's intuitive full map that does not distinguish primary and secondary points," the publishing firm said.

A Filipino magistrate, however, recently debunked the historical basis of China's claims over what the Philippines calls the West Philippine Sea.

Related: SC justice debunks China sea claims

Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio of the Supreme Court said in a lecture that a close examination of the maps, which are being used to instruct Chinese school children in the mainland, show that "historical facts" have been fabricated.

The magistrate said this shows that Hainan island, which was for centuries a part of Guangdong until 1988 when it became a separate province, is the boundary of the Chinese territory in the Southeast Asian region.

"All these ancient maps show that since the first Chinese maps appeared, the southernmost territory of China has always been Hainan island, with its ancient names being Zhuya, then Qiongya, and thereafter Qiongzhou," Carpio said.

The contested territories are neither shown in historical maps of the Philippines as part of China.

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“The South China Sea was not even named by the Chinese but by European navigators and cartographers. The Song and Ming Dynasties called the South China Sea the ‘Giao Chi Sea,’ and the Qing Dynasty, the Republic of China as well as the People’s Republic of China call it the ‘South Sea’ without the word ‘China’,” he pointed out.

The Philippines, in comparison, used provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea to assert its sovereignty over the part of the South China Sea within its exclusive economic zone in its arbitration case filed against China.