A Study On The "Island War" In The South China Sea Under The Reign Of The National Government In 1927-1937

Island dispute has become an important issue of concern in academic circlesnowadays. Among the large number of researches on island dispute related to china,few pay attention to the early period of Kuomintang government. That is why thisresearch takes Kuomintang government’s behavior of dealing with island disputesduring1927-1937as research subject. To summarize a general mode out of thecomplex behavior of Kuomintang government, two typical cases have been chosen asentry point, which are the case of France’s occupy of nine islands in South China Seaand the case of Japan’s robbery of sea products in Dongsha Islands(Pratas Islands). Inthe case of France’s occupy of nine islands in South China Sea, the biggest problemwas that the Kuomintang government knew little about the occupied islands, which inturn impelled it to put more effort in chart compilation and unifying the criterion ofthe map of China. In the case of Japan’s robbery of sea products in Dongsha Islands,the Kuomintang government’s core measure is to avoid Japan’s robbery by developthe sea product itself. Although this could not change the situation, the active spirit isworthy of praise. After studying the cases, the general mode of Kuomintanggovernment’s reaction to island dispute has come out, which include three steps,namely information collection, diplomatic protest and negotiations and attempt to realcontrol. From this research, we can also learn some historical experience includingestablishing an early warning mechanism and a multilateral coordination mechanism,keeping a long-term perspective, never ignoring details and sticking to enhancingcomprehensive national strength.