Today they push forward a claim of every property in the world that they determine today was at some point, perhaps under their control. Sovereignty over the paracel and spratley islands chemilliergendreau, monique on. First, vietnam will continue to assert its indisputable sovereignty over the paracel hoang sa and spratly truong sa archipelagos, and its legal rights and interests in maritime zones established in accordance with the united nations convention on the law of the sea unclos. Trong, who is less strident than other vietnamese leaders in his criticism of beijings behavior in the south china sea, has been seen as leading the partys more conservative, prochinese faction. Australian national university vietnam is a claimant in the south china sea disputes. Gendreau in her work, sovereignty over the paracel and spratly islands.
International law and sovereignty over the paracel and spratly archipelagoes part 14 posted by southeastasiansea. The spratly islands dispute is an ongoing territorial dispute between china, taiwan, malaysia, the philippines, vietnam and brunei, concerning territorial sovereignty over the spratly islands. Islands in the san francisco peace conference of 1951. The sovereignty disputes over the paracels hoang sa in. Nearby to the left were the paracel islands the xisha islands whichyielded sea slugs, and also coral, which was not of very good quality.
Whether from the perspectives of history, geography, or international law, the nanshaspratlyislands, shisha paracel islands, chungsha islands macclesfield bank, and tungsha pratas islands, as well as their surrounding waters, are an inherent part of roc territory and waters. The islands and islets do not emerge from a zone of deep ocean floor which may be considered to be the natural prolongation of the land territory of a particular state. Vietnam declared its sovereignty over the spratly islands and the paracel. International law and sovereignty over the paracel and. Disputes over their sovereignty involve numerous countries across the region. The spratly islands, known to the chinese as the nansha southern sands islands and to the vietnamese as truong sa, lie about 300 miles east of vietnam and 300 miles west of the philippines. Chinas claim of sovereignty over spratly and paracel. Chapter i background information on the paracels and spratlys. Jun 24, 2011 report confirms china one step closer to gaining airspace control over spratlys. The archipelagos sprawl over a sea bounded by many territories. The exceptions are china, and to a lesser extent vietnam, especially southwest vietnam. Index introductionspratly island controversy 1 physical features of the spratly islands 1 petroleum and natural gas reserves 1. Nguyen thi lan anh stressed that china had located its oil rig in disputed waters in the xisha paracel islands which vietnam claims. France claimed sovereignty over the spratly and paracel islands in 5, 1988, at 25.
The washingtonbased organization announced last week that it would change naming conventions for the paracel islands on future map printings. These lands have little in the way of a continental shelf. Monique chemilliergendreau, sovereignty over the paracel. Fishers and territorial anxieties in china and vietnam. Xavier furtado where does the united nations convention on the law of the sea unclos sit visavis the ongoing disputes over the spratly islands. China, vietnam, malaysia, brunei and the philippines form a crown around it. The south china sea disputes have lasted for 40 years. Indisputable sovereignty over the xisha and nansha islands document of the ministry of foreign affairs of the peoples republic of china january 30, 1980. Spratly islands is a group of more than 100 rocks, reefs, islands etc. Historical documents on vietnams sovereignty over paracel and spratly islands june 24, 2011 vietnamnet bridge the paracel hoang sa and the spratly truong sa islands are two archipelagos offshore vietnam. The paracels are an archipelago consisting of over 30 islands, islets, and reefs stretching over some 16,000 square kilometres of the ocean surface between north latitude 16.
Its claims for sovereignty of islands and maritime regions of the sea overlap either wholly or partly with those of brunei, china, taiwan, malaysia. The author investigates the contribution which international law can make towards determining the rights of all parties involved. Vietnam considers the ninedotted lines as a sovereignty claim. This volume deals with the contested legal status of the paracels and the spratlys, two inhospitable archipelagos located in the south china sea, sovereignty over which is disputed by several states. A balanced threat assessment of chinas south china sea. Sea has been embroiled in clashes over fishing rights and diplomatic posturing over sovereignty issues, the region has enjoyed a peaceful existence for the past thirty years. This argument, as will be seen in the following chapters, is however immaterial, since sovereignty over an island. A balanced threat assessment of chinas south china sea policy. The spratly islands dispute is a regional maritime territorial sovereignty dispute which. Spratly islands dispute simulation guide introduction the spratly islands are a disputed group of more than 750 reefs, islands, cays, atolls, and islets in the south china sea that are critical to nations in the region for strategic and economic reasons. Removal of the label china at the paracel island feed. Sovereignty over the paracel and spratly islands is the translation into english of a work first published in french by harmattan in 1996, but it has not been updated, except for a few bibliographical references. On its website, the archipelago is now simply referred to by its conventional name paracel island, and the label china has been deleted.
International law and the dispute over the spratly islands. China did not attend the conference and was not a signatory of the treaty. Despite the spratly islands naturally consisting of 19 islands see below, according to a chinese 1986 source, the spratly islands consist of 14 islands or islets, 6 banks, 1 submerged reefs, 35 underwater banks and 21. On the other hand, malaysia and vietnam have indicated their coasts are entitled to a. An international history of the dispute in the south china sea.
In 1935, the roc government also announced a sovereignty claim on the spratly islands. The paracel islands in the northern half of the sea are currently controlled by china, but are claimed by taiwan and vietnam. More than 20 in number, large and small, most of them are barren sandbanks, 10 or so are rocks and 8 are true islands. The spratly islands dispute is a regional maritime territorial sovereignty dispute which involves six countries in the south china sea china, taiwan, vietnam, philippines, malaysia and brunei. For the dispute over sovereignty to islands in the south china sea the. The battle of the paracel islands was a military engagement between the naval forces of china and south vietnam in the paracel islands on january 19, 1974. Apr, 20 international law and sovereignty over the paracel and spratly archipelagoes part 16 posted by southeastasiansea. Nobody believes that either wants to go to war over it. Japan occupied some of the islands in 1939 during world war ii, and it used the islands as a submarine base for the occupation of southeast asia.
Posts about sovereignty over paracel and spratly archipelagoes written by southeastasiansea. Historical documents on vietnams sovereignty over paracel and spratly islands have 290 words, post on at june 24, 2011. More generally, china has on occasions forced nonchinese fishing. The south china sea issue and the united nations convention on the. Vietnams position on the sovereignty over the paracels. Vietnamese position on the sovereignty of the paracels and spratlys. The purpose of this thesis is to examine the south china sea dispute and to analyze why the dispute has yet to escalate, as well as the strategic importance of the south china sea dispute in relation to international trade. Sovereignty over the paracel and spratly islands brill. Sovereignty over paracel and spratly archipelagoes south. Sovereignty over the paracel and spratly islands by monique. Pangfei, president of the commission of inquiry into these islands, and to the files on the islands compiled by the department of industry of kwangtung province, the islands lie between longitude 110 and 11247 east.
In her rsis commentary dated 9 june 2014 entitled the paracels. Sovereignty over the paracel and spratly islands, by. The delegates overwhelmingly rejected this suggestion. This claim is backed up by vietnamese documents whose. From the perspective of international law, malaysias and bruneis claims of sovereignty over some islands in the truong sa spratly were based on the continental shelf theory, one of the principles in the international law of the sea recognizes the land dominating the sea and only the territory serves as the foundation for. But in the recent months, those disputes have been escalated suddenly because of chinas initiatives claiming its sovereignty over the paracel and spratly islands. To investigate the source of the conflict, one does not have to go back very far. The spratly islands are subject to overlapping claims by six nations, including china, taiwan and vietnam.
This, at the very least, detracts from its capacity to throw light on the current state of play. Pdf the paracel islands dispute has recently resurfaced as a source of. Vietnams south china sea approach after national congress. China rejects the process, forcing the court and its arbitration to continue without its participation. Despite the spratly islands naturally consisting of 19 islands see below, according to a chinese 1986 source, the spratly islands consist of 14 islands or islets, 6 banks, 1 submerged reefs, 35 underwater banks and 21 underwater shoals. A historical account of this conflict over sovereignty, however, does not provide an overall solution to the problems. Pdf the spratly islands dispute is an ongoing territorial dispute between. Viet nam has ample historical evidence and legal basis to assert its sovereignty over the hoang sa paracel islands and the truong sa spratly islands in accordance. Monique chemilliergendreau, sovereignty over the paracel and.
The large number of islands and archipelagos in the area can be categorized into three groups, the paracel islands, macclesfield bank including scarborough shoal, and spratly islands. This thesis will also study possible solutions and effects on both the region and the international community. Chinas sovereignty over the xisha islands and the nansha islands, which were called spratly islands and paracel islands respectively, was challenged by france before world war ii and by the philippines and vietnam after world war ii. Cordner, the spratly islands dispute and the law of. In reality, china owns indisputable sovereignty over the islands grounding on ample historical and legal basis. Sovereignty over the paracel and spratly islands in. The spratlys is not the only disputed group of reefs and islands in the south china. Sovereignty dispute over the spratly islands of the phillipines, by vo xuan vinh. The battle was an attempt by the south vietnamese navy to expel the chinese navy from the vicinity. Its maritime claims hong thao nguyen the south china sea has long been regarded as a major source of tension and instability in pacific asia. Vietnam s position on the sovereignty over the paracels. Based on this fact, china has laid sovereignty claims to both the paracel islands and the spratly islands in order to maximize its claim of the sea area.
General secretary nguyen phu trong was unanimously reelected during the 12th national congress of vietnams communist party, held january 2128. Historical documents on vietnams sovereignty over paracel. But vietnam is engaged in a complex balancing act, maintaining relations with china while cultivating ties with the us and other. Chinas claim of sovereignty over spratly and paracel islands. The spratly islands were, in 1939, coral islets mostly inhabited by seabirds. International law and sovereignty over the paracel and spratly archipelagoes part 16 posted by southeastasiansea. China has produced a series of proofs to claim its national interest in the south china sea. With respect to paracel islands, both vietnam and china claim sovereignty over all maritime features including islands, islets and reefs. Chinas territorial disputes in the south china sea. The spratly islands, to the south, are far smaller, more dispersed and even more contested. The petition for removal of the label china at the paracel islands on ngss online world map dear mr. From the perspective of international law, malaysias and bruneis claims of sovereignty over some islands in the truong sa spratly were based on the continental shelf theory, one of the principles in the international law of the sea recognizes the land dominating. Given chinas silence on the meaning of the ninedotted lines, it is not surprising that states in their responses have interpreted the ninedotted lines differently. Competing territorial claims over the south china sea and its resources are numerous, with the most contentious revolving around the spratly islands and paracel islands the xisha and the nansha.
Sovereignty over the paracel and spratly islands by. Sovereignty to the paracel islands, scarborough shoal, and pratas reef and. We are writing this letter concerning the label china at the disputed paracel islands on the online world map edition published by the national geographic society. The present row between the philippines, china, and malaysia over their respective claims to the spratly archipelago. In january 1974, during the final stages of the vietnam war, china ejected south vietnam from the paracel islandsa group of tiny maritime features in the south china sea claimed by both nations.
441 1117 164 524 1002 1009 296 904 297 1604 1010 1253 500 485 128 1142 249 42 95 1639 655 497 1130 29 1051 935 922 15 1068 47 272 360 311 999 1091 1668 855 368 379 752 1150 508 804 1186 356