英国对南海诸岛主权问题的立场考论——以“克洛马事件”为中心

On Britains Position on the Issue of Sovereignty over South China Sea Islands——Centered on the Cloma Incident

1956年“克洛马事件”的发生引发中国南海周边国家和地区关于南沙群岛主权问题的连锁反应。以英国驻东南亚总专员公署为代表的一些英国机构,以英属北婆罗洲与中国南沙群岛南威岛、安波沙洲有“历史”和现实联系为依据,希望英国政府对这些依据的支撑力做出评估,其潜在目的是想借此推动英国对两岛礁提出“权利”主张。英国外交部相关机构通过研究有关南海问题的历史文献,确认英国对上述两岛礁“权利”主张证据的支撑力较弱,决定不介入这一争端。同时,英国外交官员发现,英国历史文献中关于南海问题的记载为中国关于南海诸岛的主权主张提供了较为有利的证据,不得不承认中国对南海诸岛拥有主权。尽管在冷战背景下,英国不希望中国政府控制南沙群岛,但在自己国家实力和影响力大为削弱的情形下,其对南海问题自然是心有余而力不足。

The “Cloma Incident” that occurred in 1956 triggered a chain reaction on the sovereignty of SpratlyIslands in the neighboring countries and regions of the South China Sea. Some British agencies representedby the Office of the British General Representative in Southeast Asia tried to support the British right to claim the two islands on the basis of the “historical” and current links between Brittain’s North Borneo and Spratly and Ambo Shoal in China’s Spratly Islands. By studying historical documents on the South China Sea issue, the relevant agencies of the British Foreign Office confirmed that the evidence of the UK’s claim tothe two islands was weak and decided not to get involved in the dispute. At the same time, the British diplomats found that the records in Britain’s historical documents on the South China Sea provided good evidence for China’s claim of sovereignty over the South China Sea Islands, and they had to admit China’ssovereignty over the South China Sea Islands. In the context of the cold War, the UK does not want theChinese government to control the Spratly Islands, but with its own national strength greatly weakened, it isnaturally willing to do more than it can.