evidence: This is a timely and important discussion. In recent months, while the world has focused on the fight against COVID-19, the Peopleâs Republic of China (PRC) has doubled-down on its campaign to impose an order of âmight makes rightâ in the South China Sea. Beijing is working to undermine the sovereign rights of other coastal states and deny them access to offshore resources â resources that belong to those states, not to China. Beijing wants dominion for itself. It wants to replace international law with rule by threats and coercion. [...] Third, the PRC has no lawful territorial or maritime claim to James Shoal, off Malaysia. This one deserves a moment of study. James Shoal is a submerged feature on the sea floor some 20 meters beneath the surface. It is also only 50 nautical miles from Malaysia â and over 1,000 nautical miles from the Chinese mainland. Yet Beijing claims it as the âsouthernmost point of Chinaâ! The claim is absurd â appearing to derive from an erroneous old British atlas and a subsequent translation error, suggesting the underwater shoal was actually a sandbank above the waves. But it isnât. And yet Beijingâs propaganda touts James Shoal as PRC territory and PLA Navy ships deploy there to stage ostentatious oath-swearing ceremonies. International law is clear: An underwater feature gives no rights. James Shoal is not and never was Chinese territory, nor can Beijing assert any lawful maritime rights from such spurious claims.