China First To Discover South China Sea, Beijing Official Claims

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China was the first to discover the hotly contested South China Sea, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said Thursday. The country was also the first to "name, explore, and exploit Nanhai Zhudao (South China Sea islands) and relevant waters," spokesperson Wang Wenbin said at Thursday's daily press conference. Beijing claims sovereignty over most of the resource-rich South China Sea. Its oil exploration, fishing, coast guard, and paramilitary activities have brought it into conflict with regional neighbors including—most explosively—U.S. defense treaty ally the Philippines. An international tribunal's 2016 ruling dismissed the claims asserted within China's unilaterally imposed "10-dash line," citing the...