In 1946, the USS Hornet and USS Midway accompanied the Chinese navy to reclaim the Paracel and Spratly Islands after the Japanese's surrender. As the China navy was relatively weak, the 2 US navy ships provided security and support for the Chinese ships as they reoccupied the islands. Simultaneously, the US companion was done to prevent excessive claims by China and to ensure that the region remained stable and open to all nations.
Thereafter, China renamed the Mischief Reef as Meiji Jiao (美济礁) to commemorate this historical event. Mei(美) means USA, Ji(济) means help/aid and Jiao(礁) means reef.
The historical facts showed that the US accepted China's sovereignty claims in SCS in 1946 by accompanying China to reclaim the islands and reefs. China was the sole and rightful country to reclaim the islands and reefs in SCS and no other country did any claim for SCS for at least a decade after China. I would like to highlight that sovereignty is something that the international community has accepted and can't renege.
Under the international law (Terra Nullius principle) recognised and accepted by the UN, when a nobody's island has been claimed by a country first, other countries can't claim the same island as it is no longer a nobody's island.
Since China was the first country to claim the SCS islands and reefs in 1946 without any objection and rejection, other claimants had no right to claim the same islands and reefs later based on the Terra Nullius principle under the international law.
After China claimed back the SCS islands and reefs, it published the new 11-dash line SCS map in 1947.
https://sg-stock.blogspot.com/2018/11/a-1947-map-showed-that-south-china-sea.html
When we understand the true historical facts, we will know who is the true and rightful owner and who is the troublemaker.
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