European cartographers named the sea south of China and west of the Philippines as "South China Sea"... while they named the sea east of the Philippines as "Philippine Sea"...
it appears that the choice of "South China Sea" was a matter of cartographic convenience (i.e. to simplify navigational directions) rather than an acknowledgement of China's control over the sea... as Beijing now would want the world to believe...
since "Philippine Sea" already exists as a cartographic reference (the two Battles of the Philippine Sea in WWII are now considered as some of if not the biggest naval battles in history)... it is not a big leap to rename the sea to the west of the Philippines as "West Philippine Sea"... and the sea to the east of the Philippines as "East Philippine Sea"...
and the whole world would probably welcome this change... because unlike Beijing... Manila will never have the temerity to claim the entire territory covered by these seas as its own... except for those areas that it is entitled to claim under international law...
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