BEIJING, July 20, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- As the waters of the South China Sea are increasingly stirred by geopolitical rivalry, how do the people who live around this vast expanse of blue see the waters they call home? On July 12, the Voice of the South China Sea, a platform of China Media Group (CMG), released the short documentary "South China Sea: Our Story," which explores a vision of peace, cooperation, and development through the perspectives of a fisherman, a scholar, and a scientist.

Lu Jiabing, a fisherman from Tanmen Township in Hainan, is an inheritor of the Geng Lu Bu - a traditional handwritten navigation guide passed down through generations of Chinese fishermen in the South China Sea. Guided by its routes, he has sailed to the major islands, reefs, and shoals across the South China Sea, retracing the voyages of his ancestors. In his view, this is not merely a traditional way of life for Chinese fishermen; more importantly, it carries forward the wisdom and courage of the generations who first ventured into these waters.

Wu Shicun, a Chinese scholar who has devoted his life to the study of the South China Sea, believes that the historical record should speak for itself. Through irrefutable historical evidence, he hopes to show the international community that the South China Sea is a homeland developed and sustained by generations of Chinese people, and equally, a shared maritime homeland for the countries that border it - one whose peace and stability should be safeguarded through joint efforts.

Huang Hui, a Chinese marine scientist, has turned her attention to the shared ecological challenges facing the world's oceans. To help protect coral reef ecosystems from the threat of mass bleaching, she has led her team in establishing the world's largest coral reef ecological restoration demonstration area in the South China Sea, while also actively engaging in international cooperation on coral reef conservation.

"South China Sea: Our Story" is jointly produced by the Voice of the South China Sea, a platform under CMG's Chinese Language Programming Center, together with the Huayang Center for Maritime Cooperation and Ocean Governance, and the National Institute for South China Sea Studies.

Structured around three chapters - Homeland, Protection, and Renewal - the documentary responds to the international community's shared aspiration for a "sea of peace, friendship, and cooperation," and adds a warm human touch to the story of regional cooperation and development in the South China Sea.

https://vscs.cri.cn/20260712/482cc9dc-7fce-4571-a6ca-17e353008157.html