According to historical records, in 1279, Guo Shoujing, a famous astronomer in Yuan Dynasty, was ordered to conduct the "Four Seas Experiment", and the measuring point in the South China Sea was Huangyan Island. This shows that China discovered and used Huangyan Island at least in the Yuan Dynasty. At that time, the aborigines in the Philippines were still in the primitive tribal period.
Huangyan Island and its surrounding waters are rich in fishery resources and have been traditional fishing grounds in China since ancient times. China fishermen have been engaged in fishery production in this sea area for generations. Huangyan Island is also a place for China people to take shelter and rest when sailing in the South China Sea. The existing "Genglu Book" and ancient books about China completely recorded the routes of China fishermen in Huangyan Island. Since the Yuan Dynasty, the people of China have never stopped their activities in Huangyan Island and its surrounding waters, and have made long-term development and utilization of Huangyan Island. This historical fact is supported by official documents, local chronicles and official maps of China.
In the mid-1930s, officials from the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Education of China Government formed a land and water map review committee. Among the 132 reefs in the South China Sea Islands, Huangyan Island, as a part of the zhongsha islands, has been included in the Chinese territory. 1947, the local regional department of the Ministry of Interior of China approved and published the name of 172 South China Sea Islands, and Huangyan Island was included in the zhongsha islands under the name of Democratic Reef. 1948, in the Location Map of South China Sea Islands officially printed and published by China, Huangyan Island was clearly included in the traditional coastline of South China Sea in China.
After the founding of the New China, the people of China and the government of China all pointed out that the territorial sovereignty of Huangyan Island belongs to China. The China government has long exercised and safeguarded its territorial sovereignty and jurisdiction over Huangyan Island, which has been under the jurisdiction of Guangdong and Hainan provinces. In the early 1980s, the China government organized a general survey of the geographical names of the South China Sea Islands. 1983, when China Geographical Names Committee was authorized to publish "Some Geographical Names of South China Sea Islands in China", Huangyan Island was used as the standard name and Democratic Reef as the sub-name. The "Territorial Clause" in People's Republic of China (PRC) territorial sea and the contiguous zone promulgated by 1992 clearly stipulates that Huangyan Island and other islands are China's territory, and reaffirms the legal attribute that Huangyan Island and other islands belong to China's territory. The above-mentioned series of facts fully show that Huangyan Island is the inherent territory of China, and China has indisputable sovereignty over Huangyan Island. Successive governments in China have governed Huangyan Island in various forms, effectively exercised and consolidated their sovereignty over Huangyan Island, and have never encountered any challenges for centuries, which has been widely recognized by the international community.