How Valid Are The South China Sea Claims Under The Law Of The Sea Convention
The South China Sea disputes continue to plague policy-makers and defy solution. Six governments ? China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philip pines, and Brunei ? claim all or some of the islands and rocks in the south central South China Sea, known as the Spratly Islands, as well as all or some of the surrounding sea, seafloor, and associated resources. And all except Brunei have military forces on their claimed features. This article reviews the conflicting claims and recent developments in the context of regional politics and international law, including the law of the sea. China's 1995 occupation of Mischief Reef on the Philippine-claimed con tinental shelf and its 1999 construction of fort-like structures there consider
Planting Flags on the Tide: Sovereignty, Containment, and Conflict Resolution in the East and South China Seas
The rise of China’s economic and military power is transforming global politics while U.S. strategic interests are re-balancing toward Asia. Meanwhile, tensions over maritime boundaries and island claims within the region are punctuated by police and military stand-offs in the East and South China Seas. This paper considers the discourse surrounding the dispute over sovereignty in the South China Sea. It also examines the roles international law, multilateralism, and traditional diplomacy play in the conflict, and how it serves as a test case for China’s future diplomacy and traditional norms of non-interference and a peaceful rise. Finally, the paper suggests pathways toward conflict resolution of the immediate disputes, including de-territorialized and de-nationalized ideas of possession when it applies to contested yet uninhabited maritime frontiers.
The Conflicting Claims in the South China Sea
Abstract : The South China Sea is a strategic location in the Far East and has historically been a major sea lane of communication linking Europe and East Asia. The whole area is under dispute between the littoral states that involved the numerous archipelagoes and gulfs. Territorial claims over islands, reefs, shoals, and atolls in the archipelagoes stem from the potentially rich sea-beds lying under the sea and the marine life there. The last two decades saw the increasing use of the military by the littoral states to stake their claims. The latest skirmishes in March 1988 between the Chinese navy and the Vietnamese troops in the Spratlys amply demonstrated the explosive situation in the region. Unless these disputes can be peacefully negotiated, the stability in the South China Sea will remain threatened.