Beijing’s state-affiliated Xinhua Institute on Thursday released a trio of reports that seek to reinforce China’s claims in the South China Sea and shift blame for regional frictions onto the United States and other external powers. The publications argue that China’s sovereignty over the Nanhai Zhudao—known internationally as the South China Sea islands—has been established through “centuries of historical development” and underpinned by post-World War II documents such as the Cairo Declaration and Potsdam Proclamation. One report, titled “Incitement, Threats, and Lies — The Truth about External Forces Interfering in the South China Sea Issue,” alleges that Washington has “significantly intensified the militarisation” of the area by encouraging rival claimant states to challenge Beijing. A companion study contends that alliance-building initiatives by extra-regional actors aim to preserve their own maritime dominance, while the final paper outlines China’s proposal to turn the waterway into “a sea of peace, friendship and cooperation.” The think tank claims freedom of navigation and overflight are not in dispute and maintains that outstanding territorial questions should be resolved through bilateral negotiations rather than multilateral or third-party processes. The reports come amid renewed flare-ups between China and several Southeast Asian nations over contested reefs and shoals, and they coincide with U.S. freedom-of-navigation patrols that Beijing routinely criticises.