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Secondly, the French reaction to the Vietnamese assertions in 1956; the French Government informed the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs in June 1956 that she had ceded the Paracels to Vietnam but not the Spratlys (see para 19).
26.
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office replied to the Vietnamese note on the Spratly archipelago of 6 August 1971 on 2 November (see para 47).
Subsequently the Vietnam Presse of 27 November printed a talk on the Paracels and Spratlys given to a Saigon Rotary club which provides some extra material (some of it incorrect) on the Vietnamese claim.
27. China. The latest statement of the Chinese Government's position was made in an NCNA broadcast of 17 July 1971. This said that the Nansha Islands (1) had always been part of China's territory and she had indisputable and legitimate rights over them.
They had been taken over by the Chinese Government after the Japanese surrender. Chou En-lai had pointed out they were Chinese territory on 15 August 1951.(2) This had been reiterated on 29 May 1956. The Philippine Government must stop its violation of China's territorial sovereignty and withdraw its personnel from the islands.
28.
The Nansha Islands are only one of a number of island groups claimed by the Chinese Government in the South China Sea. The boundaries of the Chinese claim as shown on Chinese maps are given on map 2.
29.
A long account of evidence for Chinese claims to the Nansha Islands was given in the People's Daily of 5 June 1956. This referred to the use of the islands, particularly Tizard Bank (Taiping Island), by Chinese fishermen, some of whom stayed on the island all the year round, while others visited it yearly from Hainan. British Admiralty publications were quoted to support this. The article also referred to the German
(1) A Chinese book of 1962 claimed that the Nansha Islands (the Spratlys) lie between 109°30' - 117°50'E and 3°52' - 11°20'.
(2) The relevant part of the text reads: "The Central People's Government of the People's Republic of China hereby declares: Whether or not the United States-British Draft Treaty contains provision on this subject [the Paracels and Spratly Island] and no matter how these provisions are worded, the inviolable sovereignty of the People's Republic of China over Nan Wei Island (Spratly Island) and Si Sha Islands (the Paracel Islands) will not be in any way affected". Information on the Islands was given in an accompanying note in a supplement to People's China of 1 September 1951.
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