A Study On The Sovereignty Consciousness Of The South China Sea In Modern China(1930-1937)

Modern times was a crucial period of China’s transformation from the concept of heaven to the concept of sovereignty.Especially,the evolution of the concept of sovereignty in the South China Sea in the 1930 s was carried out under the background of the expansion and invasion of the South China Sea by the great powers,the spread and application of the international law of the sea and the maturity of China’s concept of sovereignty.France appropriated the "Nine Islands" on the grounds of "lack of ownership"and "pre-emption.The "Nine Islets incident" not only triggered the game among China,France and Japan,but also stimulated the further development of the Chinese people’s awareness of sovereignty over the South China Sea.The Chinese people began to think about the concept of the South China Sea from the perspective of international law,looking for "evidence of preoccupation or prescription in our country".In the face of foreign powers’ expansion and aggression in the South China Sea,although China has never given up safeguarding its sovereignty,the "Nine islets incident" has exposed such problems as"weak awareness of sovereignty in the South China Sea" and "weak concept of historical space",which are objectively not conducive to the defense of sovereignty in the South China Sea.In order to change the people’s concept of "geographical location","sovereignty ownership","historical discovery","coping" and other differences,the Chinese government and all sectors of society have put forward many suggestions.Through strengthening administrative jurisdiction,promoting business development,standardizing map compilation,strengthening sovereignty education and other measures,on the one hand,promoted the initial formation of the interactive situation of safeguarding the sovereignty of the South China Sea in modern times.On the other hand,it further promoted the transformation of Chinese people’s concept of sovereignty in the South China Sea from"there are frontiers and no boundaries" in the "view of the world" to "there are frontiers and boundaries" in the "view of the country",which aroused Chinese people’s patriotism,enhanced the national awareness of sovereignty in the South China Sea,and resisted the expansion actions of foreign powers in the South China Sea,which constituted a strong evidence of rights protection in the South China Sea.