PO102 Lecture Notes - Lecture 10: South China Sea, Nautical Mile, United Nations Convention On The Law Of The Sea
TERRITORIAL CONFLICT: SOUTH CHINA SEA
Rockall Island
· Rock in middle of North Atlantic, claimed by U.K. Iceland and Denmark
o Disputed
Why are Countries Fighting Over Rocks in the Middle of Nowhere?
· Less about territory
· More about ocean resources adjacent to it: oil & gas, fisheries, minerals, navigation rights
· Area is geo-strategic: major shipping route - 5 trillion in trade shipped per year
· Economic value of fishing rights enormous (important to Vietnam & Philippines)
o Fishing grounds supply livelihoods of people across regions
Why does China Want this Huge Swath of Waterway?
· Economic resources, trade traffic
· Increase its security (control over access to its long coast)
· Overcome historical grievances
· Become power on par w/ US
Why is it Complicated?
· China is making a huge claim based on the so-called "nine dash line (double line)"
· Big Problem for China:
o Its claim clashes with international law - specifically UNCLOS
The US Position
· South China Sea is international water
· China's claims to sovereignty should be determined by UNCLOS
UNCLOS
· Treaty that establishes jurisdictional limits on the ocean area
o 12-nautical mile territorial sea limit
o A 200 nautical mile exclusive economic zone limit - can kick people out if its your territory
· UNCLOS claims:
o Islands have certain privileges (territorial sea, exEcoZone, and continental shelf rights)
o Rocks are only entitled to twelve nautical miles of territory
o "Freestanding low-tide elevations" have no jurisdictional entitlement whatsoever
· Settling disputes over maritime rights is not too difficult bc of UNCLOS
· Most countries of the world-including all claimant states in the South China Sea- are party to
UNCLOS
· Even states that haven't ratified it, such as the U.S, treat most provisions as settled customary
international law
· UNCLOS states that:
o Countries can't claim sovereignty over land masses that are covered at high tide
o Nor can a country claim sovereignty over a rock/land mass that has been raised to be above
high tide by construction
· Big problem for China is that its claim clashes with international law (UNCLOS)
Philippines wanted Tribunal to
· Clarify the legal status of the various maritime features
· Challenge the nine-dash line
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