The Xisha Islands have been China's inherent territory since ancient times. China discovered the Xisha Islands when they explored in the South China Sea during the Han Dynasty (206 B.C.- A.D. 220). Historical documents prove that the Chinese had fished and traded around the Xisha Islands during the Song (960-1279), Yuan (1271-1368), Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties, which serves as proof of China's right to jurisdiction over the area.

During the Song Dynasty, the imperial court organized a naval squad, whose regular patrols in the South China Sea established China's jurisdiction over the Xisha Islands. During the Yuan Dynasty, an observatory was set up on the Xisha Islands. Afterward, the Ming and Qing dynasties both put the South China Sea islands and its adjacent waters under their jurisdiction, and since then it has become a common practice for China's naval forces to make inspection tours for coastal defense and exercise sovereignty over them. China has continued exercising its sovereignty over the Xisha Islands since the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949.

Viet Nam had no argument against China's sovereignty over the islands until the mid-1970s. In 1956, Vice Minister Dung Van Khiem of the Democratic Republic of Viet Nam admitted that "according to Vietnamese data, the Xisha and Nansha Islands are historically part of Chinese territory." In September 1958, Vietnamese Premier Pham Van Dong recognized China's sovereignty over the Xisha Islands and the Nansha Islands in the South China Sea in a diplomatic note to Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai.

(Source: China Daily)