China celebrates 70th year of islands

Nation stands by upholding sovereignty

China commemorated in Beijing on Thursday the 70th anniversary of the recovery of the Xisha and Nansha islands, which experts said highlights China's resolve to safeguard its indisputable sovereignty in the South China Sea and willingness to cooperate with neighboring countries.

"Recovering these islands was an important achievement of China's war against aggression, demonstrating that China was firmly safeguarding the post-war international order and affirming the nation as defending its rights and interests in the South China Sea," said PLA Navy Commander Wu Shengli at the commemoration.

Based on the Cairo Declaration and Potsdam Declaration, China sent four carriers to secure islands invaded and illegally occupied by Japan in 1946, including the Dongsha Islands, the Xisha Islands and the Nansha Islands in 1946, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

Li Jingsen, a 95-year-old veteran who participated in the recovery, recalled the moment and vowed to fight for the motherland against anyone who tries to seize our land again.

Wu said that "We firmly oppose any unprofessional or unsafe activities in or above the sea … China resolutely opposes any infringement on its sovereignty and security or any attempt to sabotage the stability of the South China Sea under the guise of freedom of navigation."

"The recovery of the Nansha and Xisha islands was a great achievement during the Second World War. And it is in accordance with international law and have become part of the maritime order in the Asia-Pacific region," Wang Xiaopeng, a maritime border expert at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times.

In December 1943, the Cairo Declaration stated in explicit terms that "all the territories Japan had stolen from the Chinese" shall be restored to China. In July 1945, the Potsdam Declaration reaffirmed that "the terms of the Cairo Declaration shall be carried out."

"The commemoration shows once again China's consistent position on the South China Sea - China has indisputable sovereignty over the islands. It also proves that the South China Sea issue is, in essence, a dispute over islands sovereignty and maritime demarcation," Chen Xiangmiao, a research fellow at the National Institute for the South China Sea, told the Global Times.

In July, an international tribunal in The Hague ruled in favor of the Philippines on the South China Sea dispute, denying most of China's maritime claims in the region. China dismissed the arbitration as illegal, null and void.

Wu Haitao, China's deputy permanent representative to the United Nations, told the UN General Assembly on Wednesday that China called for efforts to promote the rule of law in the seas and oceans, and to maintain a fair and reasonable maritime order.