China's declaration of establishing 'Xisha District' and 'Nansha District' is worthless
China’s announcement of establishing an administration to manage these areas goes against international law. This further demonstrates China’s ambition to monopolize the East Sea by simultaneously implementing many actions on the ground, legally, and administratively.
The Covid-19 pandemic has not yet subsided, while the whole world is focusing on fighting the pandemic, this is an opportunity for China to increase its unreasonable sovereignty claims in the East Sea.
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| Cross Reef illegally reclaimed by China in the East Sea. |
In 2019, China sent the Haiyang Dizhi 8 ship and many other coast guard and maritime militia ships to violate Vietnam's waters for more than 100 days. During the same year, China also sent its ships to violate the waters of Malaysia and the Philippines. In addition, in late 2019 and early 2020, China also sent its ships to violate Indonesia's waters. In early April, a Chinese coast guard ship rammed and sank a Vietnamese fishing boat.
While the HD8 fleet is being closely monitored by regional and international countries as it conducts surveys near Malaysian waters, on April 18, 2020, this country again violated the sovereignty of other countries when the Chinese Ministry of Civil Affairs brazenly announced that the State Council of this country had just approved the establishment of the so-called "Xisha District" and "Nansha District" under Sansha City, Hainan Province.
Also according to Chinese news:The Xisha District manages the islands of the Xisha Islands (Vietnam's Hoang Sa Islands) and Macclesfield Bank (Trung Sa Islands) and the surrounding waters. China has established the so-called "Xisha District Government" based on Phu Lam Island - the largest structure in Hoang Sa; andThe "Nansha District" "manages" the islands of the Nansha Islands (Vietnam's Truong Sa archipelago) and the surrounding waters, the so-called "Nansha District Government" is located at the Cross Reef - a structure in Truong Sa that China has recently militarized.The declaration of these district governments is completely invalid for the following reasons:
1.China has absolutely no sovereignty over the Hoang Sa and Truong Sa archipelagos. Vietnam has repeatedly affirmed its sovereignty over these two archipelagos. Most recently, in a diplomatic note sent to the United Nations on March 30, 2020, the Vietnamese Government reiterated: “Vietnam has sufficient historical evidence and legal basis to affirm its sovereignty over the Hoang Sa and Truong Sa archipelagos, in accordance with the provisions of international law.
Vietnam affirms that the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (the Convention) is the sole legal basis, comprehensively and thoroughly regulating the scope of maritime entitlements between Vietnam and China.Accordingly, Vietnam has long had sovereignty over these two archipelagos and has been proven by historical and legal evidence.
2.Although China is occupying the entire Paracel Islands and seven structures in the Spratly Islands, because China used force to occupy them, it has violated international law, specifically Article 2 (4) of the United Nations Charter, according to which "All Members of the United Nations shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state, or in any other manner inconsistent with the Purposes of the United Nations."
In addition, Resolution 2625 of the United Nations General Assembly in 1970 also clearly stipulates that the use of force to violate the territorial integrity of another country is unacceptable. And therefore, even though China is actually occupying these structures, China still cannot have legal sovereignty over these structures.
3.This statement by China also violates international maritime law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). In the Note dated March 30, 2020, Vietnam also clearly stated: "Shoals or low-tide elevations are not objects of territorial acquisition and do not have their own maritime zones." This view is based on the important principle of international maritime law that "the land dominates the sea". This is a general principle of international law, developed from international customary law and through the judgments of international courts. Starting from the North Sea Continental Shelf Case in 1969, reiterated in many subsequent judgments of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), this principle has been codified in the provisions of Article 121 (2) of the 1982 UNCLOS.
According to this principle, low-tide elevations and structures that are permanently submerged cannot be territories to claim sovereignty over, because sovereignty can only be claimed over mainland and islands - which are considered a natural area of land but surrounded by water and always above water at high tide. Therefore, the Chinese government's claim of sovereignty over low-tide elevations and submerged banks is a serious violation of international maritime law.
We should remember that Macclefield Bank, which China calls Zhongsha, is a structure that is always submerged under the sea. Therefore, China's declaration of establishing an administration to manage these areas is contrary to international law.This further demonstrates China's ambition to monopolize the East Sea by simultaneously implementing many actions on the ground, legally, and administratively.
Surely the countries involved will not sit idly by in the face of such brazen and blatant violations of international law by China./.