Game of Bluff: Renowned scholar confronts Western ’neutrality’ on the South China Sea

For more: Who has sovereignty over the disputed South China Sea islands? Where do the roots of the current controversy lie? One renowned scholar’s relentless quest through the archives of three Western players has led to startling discoveries. Professor Anthony Carty was born in Ireland in 1948. He pursued his studies at Queen’s University Belfast, University College London, and Cambridge University, where he obtained his Ph.D. From 2011 until the end of 2018, he delved into a century of archives kept by foreign affairs departments in France, the UK, and the U.S. concerning the South China Sea. He published his findings in two papers five years ago, based on which a Chinese book titled ’The History and Sovereignty of the South China Sea’ was published. During an exclusive interview, Prof. Carty told Liu Xin that these governments understood the disputed islands belonged to China, but they had been bluffing for strategic reasons. “They need to be confr