the people's republic of china first asserted an official claim on historical grounds
to both the Paracel islands and spratly islands in comments by the foreign minister,
Zhou Enlai, in August 1951 on the draft japanes Peace Treaty. That treaty was signed aat the
San Francisco Peace Conference in September at which a matching claim was registered by the Vietnamese delegation.
When the Republic of Vietnam,with jurisdiction south of the 17th parallel of latitude,
was established in 1995, its government reaffirmed that claim.