An Analysis on the Determination of the Nature of Some Islands Individually as Requested by the Philippines in the South China Sea Arbitration

HAN Yuxiao ； XIE Hongyue

《中国海洋法学评论》 25期 (2017/06) Pp. 248-278

摘要

In the disputes over the islands and reefs in the South China Sea (SCS), the Philippines is a State having occupied many features in the SCS. It alleged that it had sovereignty over some features of China's SCS Islands. In order to seek its interests in the SCS, the Philippines, on the one hand, unilaterally initiated an arbitration against China with respect to some features, contending that the ＂dashed line＂ of China was contrary to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, and therefore requested the Arbitral Tribunal to adjudicate on its maritime entitlements. By doing so, it attempted to cut off the natural link between the sovereignty and maritime entitlements of China's SCS Islands. On the other hand, the Philippines attempted to define the nature of some islands in the SCS individually, especially those controlled actually by China. The Philippines, through degrading some of China's islands into rocks or low-tide elevations, aimed to undermine China's maritime entitlements in the SCS. With respect to the Philippines' malicious intent to fragmentize China's SCS Islands, China should, with the least possible delay, establish a mid-ocean archipelago regime in the SCS region, so as to better protect China's sovereignty over its islands and the pertinent maritime rights and interests.

關鍵字

South China Sea Arbitration ； Territorial disputes ； Mid-ocean archipelago ； United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea