从上世纪70年代开始，一些南海周边国家由于觊觎南海的丰富自然资源，开始对中国南沙岛礁提出领土要求。越南、菲律宾等国先后派兵非法侵占了南沙部分岛礁，南海问题就此产生。迄今为止，越南共侵占29个岛礁，菲律宾共侵占8个岛礁，马来西亚共侵占5个岛礁。

Since the 1970s, some countries have tried to lay claim on the natural resources in the South China Sea. It was then that some nations began to make territorial claims. Vietnam and Philippines sent troops and illegally occupied some of the islands. That is how the disputes started. Up till today, Vietnam has occupied 29 islands, Philippines eight and Malaysia five.

进入80年代以来，联合国海洋法公约经过9年的谈判于1982年签署。随着现代海洋法制度的发展，各国又逐步提出了专属经济区和大陆架等海洋权益主张，这些主张覆盖的范围有部分重叠，从而又产生了海域划界的问题，这就使得问题进一步复杂化。

In 1982, the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) was concluded after 9 years of hard negotiations. With this development of the maritime legal system in the 1980s, countries around the South China Sea gradually made further claims. These were based on UNCLOS agreements that include the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), continental shelf and other maritime rights and interests. Such overlapping claims in some cases gave rise to disputes of maritime delimitation. This has caused further complications to the issue of the South China Sea.

由此可见，南海争端的根源：一是一些国家非法侵占中国南沙群岛部分岛礁而产生的领土争议；二是一些国家提出的海洋管辖权主张重叠而产生的海域划界争议。这两方面原因相互交织，使南海问题异常复杂。但无论从哪方面原因看，中国都不是挑起事端的一方，恰恰相反，中国是南海争端的受害方。

It is clear that there are two disputes at the centre of the South China Sea issue: One is the territorial dispute caused by illegal occupation of Chinese territory. The other is the dispute over maritime delimitation caused by overlapping claims of maritime jurisdiction. These two disputes are intertwined and have made the issue highly complex. However, one thing is clear: whichever angle one chooses to look at the issue, China has never been the troublemaker. Quite the opposite, China has been a victim.