Peter1469
03-04-2017, 11:28 AM
China Threatens to Deny Passage Rights through Peripheral Seas (http://www.worldaffairsjournal.org/blog/gordon-g-chang/china-threatens-deny-passage-rights-through-peripheral-seas)
China is thinking about changing its laws regarding free passage of merchant vessels in its adjacent seas and exclusive economic zones. If these changes are made they will violate the Law of the Sea treaty. This treaty is not just treaty law, but is generally recognized by international law experts as customary law.
There is some good discussion of the various zones of waters that provide different levels of rights to adjacent nations.
On Tuesday, Chinese state media reported (http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2017-02/14/c_136056397.htm)) that the Legislative Affairs Office of the State Council is considering amendments to the 1984 Maritime Traffic Safety Law. “The revisions are based on the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea and Chinese laws on the seas, adjacent areas, and exclusive economic zones,” noted (http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1033094.shtml) the Global Times, a tabloid controlled by the Communist Party’s People’s Daily.
If enacted, the amendments, slated to take effect in 2020, would violate Beijing’s obligations as a signatory to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. Specifically, the changes would require foreign ships to obtain permission to pass through “Chinese waters.”
China’s rules are inconsistent with the internationally accepted (http://www.worldaffairsjournal.org/blog/gordon-g-chang/chinese-warships-sail-american-waters) concept of “innocent passage,” which is incorporated in Section 3 of UNCLOS, as the UN convention is known, and recognized by customary international law.
In general, foreign warships under the innocent passage rule may expeditiously transit the territorial waters of a coastal state without permission if they do not engage in certain activities.
The effect of China’s proposed rules, which the Communist Party first signaled (http://thediplomat.com/2017/02/china-mulls-maritime-law-revisions-codifying-its-south-china-sea-practices/) in late 2015 at its Fifth Plenum, depends on how expansively Beijing interprets “Chinese waters.” China’s official maps show nine or ten dashes that enclose about 85 percent of the South China Sea. Beijing takes the position it has sovereignty to every island, shoal, atoll, rock, and other feature inside that infamous line.
China is thinking about changing its laws regarding free passage of merchant vessels in its adjacent seas and exclusive economic zones. If these changes are made they will violate the Law of the Sea treaty. This treaty is not just treaty law, but is generally recognized by international law experts as customary law.
There is some good discussion of the various zones of waters that provide different levels of rights to adjacent nations.
On Tuesday, Chinese state media reported (http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2017-02/14/c_136056397.htm)) that the Legislative Affairs Office of the State Council is considering amendments to the 1984 Maritime Traffic Safety Law. “The revisions are based on the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea and Chinese laws on the seas, adjacent areas, and exclusive economic zones,” noted (http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1033094.shtml) the Global Times, a tabloid controlled by the Communist Party’s People’s Daily.
If enacted, the amendments, slated to take effect in 2020, would violate Beijing’s obligations as a signatory to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. Specifically, the changes would require foreign ships to obtain permission to pass through “Chinese waters.”
China’s rules are inconsistent with the internationally accepted (http://www.worldaffairsjournal.org/blog/gordon-g-chang/chinese-warships-sail-american-waters) concept of “innocent passage,” which is incorporated in Section 3 of UNCLOS, as the UN convention is known, and recognized by customary international law.
In general, foreign warships under the innocent passage rule may expeditiously transit the territorial waters of a coastal state without permission if they do not engage in certain activities.
The effect of China’s proposed rules, which the Communist Party first signaled (http://thediplomat.com/2017/02/china-mulls-maritime-law-revisions-codifying-its-south-china-sea-practices/) in late 2015 at its Fifth Plenum, depends on how expansively Beijing interprets “Chinese waters.” China’s official maps show nine or ten dashes that enclose about 85 percent of the South China Sea. Beijing takes the position it has sovereignty to every island, shoal, atoll, rock, and other feature inside that infamous line.