The so-called strongest evidence of China’s claim to Huangyan Island is gone. The 600-year-old handwritten book, owned by Su Chengfan, a former fishing vessel captain, was thrown away by the Hainan fisherman.
BBC reported that it went to the fishing port of Tanmen to look for Su Chengfan and verify the authenticity of China’s claim, although the only thing that the book possibly established is that Chinese fishermen were to first to set foot on the disputed island based on directions written on the book how to get there.
The book, passed on from generation to generation, taught fishermen how to go anywhere and return, including the Paracels and Spratleys and how to return to Huangyuan Island. However, Su Chengfan said that although the book was important, he threw it away because it was broken.
“It was flipped through too many times. The salty seawater on the hands had corroded it … In the end it was no longer readable so I threw it away,” the retired fisherman confessed.
However, except for Su Chengfan, no one else in Hainan was willing to talk to BBC which noted that it was followed by several government vehicles with plates covered from the port to the fisherman’s house. BBC was supposed to also speak to another boat captain but was prevented because the man was picked up and questioned by Hainan police.
Huangyuan, or Scarborough or Panatag Shoal, is just one of the islands in the South China Sea that the Asian giant is claiming. On Friday, an Indonesian naval ship fired on a Chinese shipping board near the Natuna Islands, reported Reuters.
On Monday, Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla said Jakarta would send a message to Beijing to demand that it respect Indonesia’s sovereignty over waters around Natuna. China has included the Natuna Islands in its “nine-dash line” which Indonesia disputes.