Applying the 1982 Convention to resolve disputes over the Paracel and Spratly Islands
(Baonghean) -First of all, it must be affirmed that territorial sovereignty and island disputes are not subject to resolution under the mechanism of the 1982 Convention. However, the provisions of the Convention on islands, rocks, low-tide elevations, archipelagos, the status of natural rocks, artificial rocks, archipelagic baselines, and archipelagic states have an impact on the interpretation and application of the scope for the two archipelagos.
China often cites the nine-dash line (cow tongue line) shown on the map of the South China Sea published by the Republic of China in 1947. China explains that this is the national maritime border, this line includes 80% of the East Sea area and all two archipelagos, and they consider the sea area within this nine-dash line as historical waters under the internal waters regime. Based on this line, the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture issued regulations on fisheries management in the East Sea effective from January 1, 2004. However, this historical basis of China is vague, inconsistent with international law.
On May 15, 1996, China again defined the baselines of the Hoang Sa archipelago in the Declaration on the Chinese baseline system. This line consists of 28 points, connecting the most prominent points of the outermost islands, rocks, and shoals of the archipelago. The area covered by this baseline system of China is a large area of 17,300 km2 while the area of the islands of the Hoang Sa archipelago is 10 km2. The legal regime of this water area within this line system is understood as the internal waters regime. Since then, Hoang Sa has continued to have territorial waters, exclusive economic zones, and continental shelves overlapping the sea areas in central Vietnam.
China has applied the baseline method prescribed only for archipelagic states to draw baselines for the Paracel Islands. China's baseline regulations in the Paracel Islands have violated two basic principles: it violates Vietnam's territorial sovereignty and violates the provisions of the International Law of the Sea on drawing baselines. The United States, Indonesia and many other countries have protested this action of China.
In Truong Sa, China did not specify the scope but proposed the concept of "the adjacent waters of the Truong Sa archipelago" and proposed "putting aside disputes for joint exploitation". In 1992, they signed a special concession contract with Creston Company (USA) for a sea area of 25,250 km2 on the grounds that this area is within 200 nautical miles from the westernmost point of the Truong Sa archipelago. In fact, this is the Tu Chinh shoal area on Vietnam's continental shelf. Recently, China has again raised objections to Vietnam's oil and gas exploration and exploitation activities deep inside Con Son, preventing Vietnam's oil and gas exploitation activities in joint ventures with foreign partners on Vietnam's continental shelf, which is unreasonable and unacceptable.
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