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scope of this paper to comment on their relative merits.
14.
The Netherlands. In July 1971 a Philippine newspaper said the Netherlands had a claim to the Spratlys. The Netherlands Ambassador later that month called on the Philippine Under Secretary to state that his Government had no claim.
15.
Malaysia.
No evidence has been discovered to show that the British Government passed on its "claims" to Spratly Island and Amboyna Cay to the state of Malaysia. Nor is there any evidence of Malaysia having laid any claim to these islands.
16.
North Vietnam,
North Vietnam appears never to have made a claim to the islands. She announced officially on 22 September 1958 that in a note of 14 September she had accepted the Chinese Government's declaration of a 12 nautical mile limit for its territorial waters made on 4 September. This declaration included amongst Chinese territories all the Chinese islands, and specifically named the Nansha Islands. It is therefore unlikely that North Vietnam could now make any claim.
17. France. According to a Foreign Office memorandum of 1932 the authorities in French Indo-China had wished to annex the islands near Spratly because inter alia of deposits of potash and guano there. Annexation had bccn delayed because of possible United States reaction on the grounds that they were part of the Philippine archipelago (see footnote 3 to paragraph 34). In 1930, however, a French sloop visited various islands, including Spratly. Her commander issued a communiqué in which it appeared at the time that the French Government claimed "sovereignty over all islands, islets and reefs situated in the zone between the seventh and twelfth degrees of north latitude and to the west of the triangular zone reserved to American sovereignty under Article 3 of the Treaty of 10th December 1898".(1) On 26 July 1933 the French Government announced in the Journal Officiel that France had occupied certain islands and consequently claimed sovereignty over them. 1) Spratly Island and its dependent islands (8°39' Lat.N 2) Amboyna Cay and its dependent islands (7052' Lat.N 112055' Long.E); 3) Itu Aba and its dependent islands (10022' Lat.N
These were
115055' Long E);
114°21' Long.E);
4) Groupe de Deux Iles and their dependent islands (11°29'Lat.N 114°21'
Long.E);
5) Loaito and its dependent islands (10°42' Lat.N 114025' Long. E);
6) Thi-Tu and its dependent islands (1107' Lat.N 114°16' Long. E) (see map 1).
(1)
This British interpretation was considered to be too wide by the Foreign Office after it had received notice of the annexation in 1933.
5
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