ha ་་་"-"ཐ**
SECRET
-
UK EYES ONLY
the Nationalist weather W/T station ceased operations in mid-1950. On 22 May 1956 the Nationalist Chinese again reaffirmed sovereignty over the archipelago. Two Nationalist ships were sent to the islands in June, and the Nationalist "Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs" rejected Vietnamese claims in a statement of 2 June 1956. An armed force landed in July, presumably on Itu Aba. There have since been occasional reports of Chinese garrisons there up to the present day.
32. The question came up again in 1959 when the Nationalist Foreign Affairs spokesman reaffirmed sovereignty in February, and later in the same year the press announced that great plans for the development of the islands had been made. It was subsequently reported (in July 1971) that the Nationalist Chinese were planning to build a radar station on Itu Aba as part of a 7 nation typhoon warning system.
33.
Philippines. President Marcos gave a press conference on 10 July 1971 during which he stated that his Government had formally requested the Nationalist Chinese Government to withdraw its troops from Itu Aba on the ground that their presence violated "the de facto trusteeship of the allied powers by virtue of the Japanese peace treaty". Under the principle of res nullius the islands belonged to no-one. Philippine marines had raised the flag on Itu Aba and planted trees a year ago, and Philippine troops were in effective control and occupation of Pagasa (Flat), Lawak (Nanshan) and Patag (Thitu). (1) A Filipino citizen, Mr Cloma, had previously claimed the islands and ceded his claim to the Philippine Government. The Spratlys were within the Philippine continental shelf and their natural resources belonged to the Philippines by virtue of the Petroleum Act (see para 36).
34. No evidence (2) has been found here on pre-war. claims by the United States on behalf of the Philippines to the area. Philippine boundaries were defined by the 1898 Treaty between Spain and the United States.(3) An
(1) The 1971 US memorandum states that Philippine occupation took place on 15 July.
(2) The US Department of State 1947 memorandum on the question does not mention any claim.
(3)
However a further treaty was signed in 1900 in which Spain agreed to cede "any and all islands belonging to the Philippine Archipelago, lying. outside the lines described in Article III of that Treaty". Article III included Palawan but excluded the islands considered here. confirmed by the Philippines Public Act 3046 of 1961. The British Government formally protested against the terms of the Act in 1962.
This was
10
SECRET - UK EYES ONLY