The Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) is a UNESCO body which coordinates international study in the field of oceanography.

[9] China's delegate to the meeting spoke highly of GLOSS, but complained that a table in the agreement listed Taiwan as a country.

[10][11] The scientists working on GLOSS were unaware that China claims that Taiwan is not a separate country; nor did they know about the territorial disputes over the Spratly Islands.

[9] Accounts of the incident differ substantially between the participants, with both Vietnam and China claiming that the other side initiated combat.

It was reported that PAVN Corporal Nguyen Van Lanh and PAVN Sub Lieutenant Tran Van Phuong argued over the flag raising with People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) sailor Du Xianghou, which led to fighting between the opposing forces on the reef.

Vietnam believed this battle group intended to create a reason to "occupy the Spratly Islands in a preventive counterstrike".

[14]: 94 [26][27] Cheng Tun-jen and Tien Hung-mao, two American professors, summarized the skirmish as follows: in late 1987, the PRC started deploying troops to some of the unoccupied reefs of the Spratly Islands.

Soon after the PLA stormed the Johnson South Reef on 14 March 1988, a skirmish began between Vietnamese troops and PRC landing parties.

[28] Koo Min Gyo, Assistant Professor in the Department of Public Administration at Yonsei University, Seoul, South Korea, reported the battle's course was as follows: On 31 January 1988, two Vietnamese armed cargo ships approached the Fiery Cross Reef to get construction material to build structures signifying Vietnam's claim over the reef.

[9] On 13 and 14 March, a PLAN artillery frigate was surveying the Johnson Reef when it spotted three Vietnamese ships approaching its location.

[9] China moved quickly to consolidate its presence and by the end of 1988, it had occupied six reefs and atolls in the Spratly Islands.

[8] In 1994, China had a similar confrontation by asserting its ownership of Mischief Reef, which was inside the claimed EEZ of the Philippines.