@Dave/Maxsimal
The article says Beijing did not make the document public – implying it was discovered by someone outside of Beijing. Do you really think they “save face” by having their entire multi-decade claim destroyed by their own historical documentation? Wouldn’t it make more sense to seek compromise and hopefully end up with *something* out of the deal, than to create a document that likely leaves them with no leg to stand on? I think the logical fallacy of your pessimistic presumption that they would sabotage their own argument for the sake of mianzi is crazy, it doesn’t “save” any face, it makes them look extremely bull-headed and deceptive, intentionally lying and covering up truths in order to get something they internally know isn’t theirs. How that “saves face” is beyond me.