The Americans claiming the whole of South China Sea

Everyone is flabbergasted that China is claiming a large part of the
South China Sea. The other littoral states are also in the rush to claim
as much as they could. The South China Sea islands were uninhabited and
for a long time, virgin land, terra nullius. Under historical
precedence, such islands are finder’s keepers. What is so wrong about
that? Whoever found it first earns the right to