a letter

Dear Professor Cossu,


My name is ABC, I am a researcher from the University of XYZ. I have recently been drawn to a paper by Tai et al (Waste Management 2011; 31:1673-1682) which I consider contains a serious error of fact.  In the paper, Tai and colleagues present a map of China (Figure 2) which includes a territorial sea encompassed by 9 dotted lines, commonly known as “the ox-tongue shaped zone” or the “U shaped zone”. Although the map is presented as fact, it is highly unscientific and could have serious implications to on-going disputes regarding the legal status of the zone. 

The 9-dotted zone encircles the archipelagos of Paracels and Spratlys.  The archipelagos and the 9-dotted zone have been a subject of territorial dispute among Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei, and recently China.  While Vietnam has exercised her sovereignty over the archipelagos as early as the 15th century, other countries (e.g., the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and China) have made certain territorial claims of the archipelagos.  In recent years, China has arbitrarily presented the U-shaped map and claimed it as her “historic water”!  However, there are neither historical evidence nor scientific data to support the claim.  Scientifically, it is impossible to locate the sea line, due largely to lack of coordinates.  The map is not recognized by any international organization.  Thus, the 9-dotted lines zone presented by Tai and colleagues is an error of fact. It is also scientifically incorrect.  

This error has serious implications in international relations.  The 9-dotted lines zone claimed by China has sparked an on-going and heated dispute among concerned countries, and the dispute has intensified to a dangerous level.  In recent years, several Vietnamese fishermen working in the archipelagos have regularly been harassed and terrorized by Chinese naval vessels.  Even worse, some were arrested and murdered by people allegedly linked to the Chinese military.  As early as four weeks ago, two Vietnamese ships working on an oil exploring mission were harassed by Chinese patrol vessels who were intentionally snapping cables used by the Vietnamese ships.  The incidents and the dispute on the 9-dotted lines zone are so serious that the United States Congress has publicly expressed some concerns.  The US-based Center for Strategic and International Studies is organizing a conference on Maritime Security in the South China Sea (today and tomorrow) in Washington.  I would like to bring your attention to the implications that could be associated with the publication of the map presented by Tai and colleagues. 

As an editor of a number of medical journals, I myself come across errors of fact in papers from time to time.  While most errors are simply oversights by authors, others are more or less systematic biases.  I consider that regardless of whether the error in the Tai et al’s paper was an oversight or a bias, it should be corrected -- for the benefit of science and scientific integrity.  Could I therefore take the liberty to suggest that you put out a correction in Waste Management as soon as practically possible.