A little known paper of the same title was published in Acta Oceanologica Sinica in 1995 (Chen and Huang, V14, 47-57). Although it was cited only 28 times compared with my H-index of 86 as of June, 2026, I believe it reported severed new findings:

• Because of the interference of the submarine topography and the Kuroshio axis, there exists a "front" in the Luzon Strait. East of it, the water mass belongs to the West Philippine Sea, on the west is the mixed water of the South China Sea and the West Philippine Sea.
• There are only very small differences in biogeochemistry between these two water masses, implying a short deep water residence time of approximately 40 a.
• The anthropogenic CO₂ penetrates to roughly 500 m, slightly shallower than found in the West Philippine Sea. The entire South China Sea contains (0.38±0.1) × 10¹⁵ g excess CO₂.

Biogeochemical studies have advanced significantly over the past three decades with more accurate and more extensive data partially contributed by the RV Tan Kan Kee. More importantly, now there are enough data to show the effects of global environmental change. Needless to say, time series data such as SEATS (South East Asia Time Series) played a pivotal role. I urge that this station be maintained by all means.