For order in South China Sea

By Jin Yongming (China Daily)
Updated: 2011-06-22

The root of the ongoing South China Sea dispute is the unilateral actions of Vietnam and the Philippines. The two countries have intensified their efforts to exploit resources and occupy parts of Nansha and Xisha islands, and dismantled plaques China had set up on the Nansha Islands to signify its maritime boundary.

The United States, which is not part of the region, has added fuel to fire by demanding freedom of navigation and holding joint military exercises in the seas off China.

Therefore, resolving the South China Sea issue, especially the jurisdiction of the Nansha Islands, with reason and guaranteeing navigation security and freedom are a challenge that the international community faces. To maintain order and ensure that the situation does not deteriorate further, all parties to the dispute should abide by the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and the 2002 Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea.

Since the shift in global economic activities to the Asia-Pacific region has increased Asian countries' need for energy and resources, some players in the region are trying all means to exploit sea resources and seize the Nansha Islands.

Navigation safety has become a big concern in the South China Sea, which is an important waterway for merchant vessels. The gross tonnage in the waters around the Nansha Islands is half of the world total, and two and three times that of the Suez Canal and the Panama Canal. It is, therefore, in the interest of all countries, including the US, to maintain peace and stability in the South China Sea, especially in the waters around the Nansha Islands.

But the developments in recent times, thanks to some countries' actions, have been to the contrary. The US consolidated its alliance with South Korea and Japan during the Cheonan incident in March last year and after a Chinese fishing trawler collided with two Japanese coast guard vessels near Diaoyu Islands in September. The US has strengthened its strategic arrangements in East Asia, and is more interested in regaining its strategic position in the Asia Pacific than in resolving the issue.

For demarcation of outer continental shelves of countries, the South China Sea dispute has to be resolved immediately. The deadline for countries to submit their outer continental shelf delimitation applications to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS), formed by the UN for the purpose, was May 13, 2009. Vietnam submitted its application on the South China Sea on May 7, 2009, and Malaysia and Vietnam made a joint submission on their claim on the southern part of the South China Sea a day earlier.

Both the submissions violate sovereignty rights and jurisdiction in the South China Sea. The CLCS would consider a submission on the premise that there is no controversy or dispute between or among countries on the issue - and in case of any, it will not examine the controversial or disputed parts.

Some Asian countries have taken unilateral action because there are loopholes in international and regional regulations. Though China and Southeast Asian countries signed the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea on Nov 4, 2002, the declaration is one of principle and lacks a specific code of conduct, especially on the measures to be taken against countries that violate it.

Countries will always put forward arguments in their own favor, creating conflicts and disputes, and even take actions in pursuit of bigger interests. Worse, whether unilateral or joint actions of countries in the South China Seas have complicated, magnified or harmed regional peace and stability cannot be determined or judged.

For example, the joint war games held in the South China Sea, especially in the waters off the Nansha Islands, are against UNCLOS regulations, and their frequency and purpose have violated the goal of peaceful use of marine resources, which should be opposed.

For the resolution of the maritime disputes between China and some Southeast Asian nations, it is necessary that they clarify their claims, spell out their interests and positions, and hold dialogues.

And to oppose US-led military exercises and joint drills in the region, China should urge the international community to revise the UNCLOS and add specific regulations on military activities. This is important to safeguard common interests such as flights and ships. If international or regional regulations cannot be made specific, China should let its policies be known to the international community.

First, China should tell the international community clearly and confidently what its stand on the South China Sea issue is to ensure that other countries in the region do not misunderstand or misjudge it.

Second, China should stick to the principle of "joint development despite controversies" and despite setbacks. The urgent mission is to identify the controversial regions whose development is acceptable to all parties.

Third, the Chinese government has to set up a higher-level body on maritime issues that would coordinate among related departments to decide on joint actions. It should spell out its territorial "nine-dash" U-shaped baseline in the South China Sea, too, to solicit legal support.

China hopes to resolve the South China Sea disputes without exaggerating or magnifying them. The best way to do it is to establish and maintain mechanisms in the region, and ensure that order and stability in the South China Sea are not harmed and the common interest of the international community is not undermined.

The author is a law scholar with the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences and Academy of Ocean of China.