evidence: Viewing only this and similar evidence, China’s claims of sovereignty over the islands in the SCS are understandable and appear to be legal. This evidence, at minimum, suggests that the Chinese people were openly living and using land in the SCS at multiple points during the last several thousand years and that the Chinese people were the first to use the area. China views this as sufficient evidence to support its stance that its claims of sovereignty in the SCS are legally valid and, as a result, believes that other countries’ sovereignty claims within the SCS encroach on its historically recognized territory. [...] 10 Vietnam and China engaged in battles over islands in the South China Sea in 1974 and again in 1988. See: Ngo Minh Tri and Koh Swee Lean Collin, "Lessons from the Battle of the Paracel Islands," The Diplomat, 23 January 2014, https://thediplomat.com/. [...] 40 Teh-Kuang Chang, "China’s claim of sovereignty over the Spratly and Paracel Islands: A Historical and Legal Perspective," Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law 23 (1991), 399, 408–10.