Generations of Chinese grade-school students have been taught that the southernmost part of China is Zeng Ansha, otherwise known as James Shoal, an underwater reef about fifty miles off the coast of Malaysia. On a flight into China today, flip open the inflight magazine on Air China and you will find the long cow tongue of the 9-Dash Line imprinted in a dark line on the map of the South China Sea, reaching all the way down to Malaysia and Indonesia.
