evidence: China’s claims in the South China Sea fall into two types: "territorial claims" to the disputed rocks and reefs and "maritime claims" to the resources in the sea around those rocks and reefs. The United States, quite sensibly, has never taken a position on which country is the rightful owner of these territories. However, Pompeo’s statement breaks new ground by asserting that China has "no lawful territorial or maritime claim to (or derived from) James Shoal." This will be music to the ears of Malaysia because James Shoal (Beting Serupai in Malay, Zengmu Ansha in Chinese) is an entirely submerged piece of seabed about 50 miles from the coast of Borneo and more than 600 miles from China. China claims James Shoal as its "southernmost territory" because of a translation error by a Republic of China government committee in 1934. The committee used the Chinese word "tan" as a translation of "shoal." Tan means "sandbank," and this bureaucratic mistake led to a piece of seabed becoming defined as land. In 1947, the translation was changed to ansha, which means "hidden sand," but the territorial claim remained.