On April 14th, 2018, the Symposium on "Maintaining China's Maritime Rights and Interests" was held in Wuhan. The participating experts focused on the theme of ‘Maintaining China's maritime rights and interests’ and conducted in-depth exchanges and discussions on global ocean governance issues, the maintenance of China's maritime rights and interests, and the new development of the law of the sea and international law.

 

The seminar was hosted by China Ocean Development Research Association and China Ocean Development Research Center and hosted by the Institute of International Law of Wuhan University. Yang Zewei, Second-level Professor of Wuhan University, presided over the opening ceremony of the conference. Professor Shen Zhuanghai, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of Wuhan University, Wang Fei, Chairman of the China Ocean Development Research Association, Liang Jinzhe, Deputy Director of the Central Foreign Affairs Office Maritime Rights Bureau, and Professor Feng Guo, Director of Law School of Wuhan University and Prof. Feng Jiehan from the Institute of International Law of Wuhan University delivered speeches respectively. 49 representatives from Beijing, Shanghai, Changsha, Haikou, Guangzhou and Wuhan attended the meeting. The author has compiled some wonderful speeches from some experts and scholars and shared them with readers.

 

Wang Bin, Vice Chairman of China Ocean Development Research Association, Director of Ocean Disaster Reduction Center, State Oceanic Administration

 

Between the ecosystem management and the integrated marine management, the former is the basis of the latter and the latter is the goal of the former. The development trend of China's integrated marine management is the overall goal of deepening reform of the national governance system and modernization of governance capabilities. Through the five major systems of ocean work, such as economic prosperity of the sea, legal regulation of the sea, ecological management of the sea, protection of the sea and strong capacity of the sea, a modern marine management system based on ecosystems will be built to promote China's integrated marine management to a new era.

 

Jin Yongming, Director and Researcher of China Ocean Strategy Research Center, Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences

 

Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, China’s new ideas, new policies, and new initiatives, namely, China’s diplomatic innovations, have fully conformed to the trend of the times and conformed to the implementation of China’s strategic goal of becoming a maritime power. In the process of accelerating the construction of a maritime power, China’s task of realizing the goal of managing the sea according to law is still arduous. It requires various means including diplomatic activities and continuous efforts, so as to maintain the maritime order reasonably, ensure China’s maritime rights and interests, and obtain a great power. The status of the sea, and play the role of China's voice in the construction of the marine system.

 

Bai Jiayu Professor, Ocean University of China

 

China is committed to participating in the Arctic affairs with the right view of justice. At the level of international rule of law, we abide by the international legal rules that are in the common interest of all mankind; At the domestic level of the rule of law, we transform or incorporate international legal rules that are in the common interest of all mankind in domestic legislation, and form a beneficial interaction with the international rule of law, thereby achieving the goal of good governance.. Taking international law as a strategic means and taking part in the participation of Arctic affairs as a platform will help to achieve the strategic goals of a maritime power.

 

Feng Jiehan Professor and Deputy Director of Institute of International Law, Wuhan University

 

The US Air Navigation Freedom is aimed at a wide range of coastal states, including the United States’ allies and the countries surrounding the South China Sea. However, the few challenged coastal states have changed their domestic laws or maritime claims because of US military demonstrations. On the contrary, more and more coastal states restrict the military use of the relevant sea areas for security reasons, so the political implications of US military operations are greater than the legal effects. With the advancement of the ‘Maritime Silk Road’, China is increasingly becoming a sea country, and it needs to provide strategic security guarantees for energy imports from the Gulf region and Africa on the Maritime Silk Road, protect trade and investment interests, and promote the soft power of aid and combating pirates. China increasingly needs an open ocean.

 

Tan Min, Associate Professor, Kunming University of Science and Technology

 

The Strait of Malacca has important strategic status and economic value. The existing security maintenance mechanism is complex. It has both a unilateral maintenance mechanism for coastal countries and a common maintenance mechanism between coastal countries. It also has a common maintenance mechanism funded by other countries but implemented by coastal countries. . Although the effectiveness of these mechanisms is significant, there is also a need for further improvement. China should respect the dominant position of coastal countries, continue to provide all kinds of assistance and strive for greater voice, and make use of the "One Belt and one Road" opportunity to make due contributions to the safe maintenance of the Straits of Malacca.

 

Guo Ran, Associate Professor, East China Normal University

 

China's implementation of the "21st Century Maritime Silk Road" must protect the underwater cultural heritage along the line, which requires the joint efforts of China and the countries along the line. The Convention for the Protection of Underwater Cultural Heritage is the only international convention specifically for the protection of underwater cultural heritage. It provides an international legal framework for China's protection of the underwater cultural heritage of the Maritime Silk Road and the realization of the strategic goal of "the connection with people's heart." China's accession to the Convention is conducive to protecting the underwater cultural heritage of the "Maritime Silk Road" and breaking the bottleneck of the "Maritime Silk Road" construction, providing a new opportunity for the joint development of the South China Sea. Joining the convention may conflict with the current regulations in China in terms of underwater cultural heritage jurisdiction and international cooperation obligations. China can resolve these conflicts in accordance with the basic principles of the Convention or by amending domestic regulations. Therefore, China should ratify the Convention as soon as possible.

 

Deng Niya , Doctor of Law, Lecture of Dalian Maritime University

 

The establishment of a new international legal order has provided new opportunities and challenges for the modern sea power development model, and also put forward new requirements for the development of national sea power. With the development and changes of the country's economic needs and security needs, in the process of steadily advancing the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road Initiative, China's sea power development model also needs to achieve innovation and transcendence. China should comprehensively analyze the national marine position and the surrounding marine environment, the peripheral powers of neighboring countries and major maritime powers, and combine China's new demands for the oceans to establish an active role in the effective control and comprehensive utilization of the oceans based on the state's right to self-defense. The inclusive sea power development model achieves the goal of coordinating the development of sea power and land rights and tilting to sea power to a certain extent. In the development model of China's sea power, it is necessary to fully respect the existing new international legal order and actively participate in the process of creation and improvement of the new international legal rules.

 

Feng Liang, Deputy Director of China South Sea Research Collaborative Innovation Center of Nanjing University, Professor of Naval Command College

 

Xi Jinping's thought of safeguarding the oceans is an important part of Xi Jinping's socialist ideology in the new era. He is the ideological summary of the long-term struggle for the rights of the party's leading cores and has extremely rich strategic connotations. Xi Jinping's thought of safeguarding the sea's rights has adapted to the severe and complex situation of China's marine rights struggle, and has long-term guiding significance for the realization of China's marine rights protection. Insist on Xi Jinping's idea of safeguarding the sea, he must maintain strategic strength, continue and strategically promote the military function of the South Island Reef; at the same time accelerate the role of the South Island Reef in the construction of "soft power". Through the formulation of a new plan for the South China Sea, it provides institutional guarantees for lasting peace and stability in the South China Sea region.

 

Zhou Jiang, Associate Dean and Professor, School of International Law, Southwest University of Political Science and Law

 

In areas where China has not yet delineated the baseline of the territorial sea, the Nansha Islands are relatively complex and special and need to be considered separately. Among the various options available for reference, the ‘integrated’ approach refers to the processing of the baseline of the territorial sea, based on the natural geographical connections of the Nansha Islands, as a unit. The so-called ‘block’ scheme divides the Nansha Islands into a number of regions, each of which contains a number of geographically close island reefs, and then select appropriate points on the outermost dry reefs or islands around each region. The base point, thus obtaining a straight line of each base point, forms the territorial sea baseline for each "block". The ‘dot matrix’ scheme uses the islands like Taiping Island or other eligible ‘dry reefs’ as the criteria for selecting the dash units, using them as separate units, and selecting appropriate points on them to connect them in a straight line and form their respective territorial sea baselines.

 

Zhao Xianghua, Doctor of Law of Kyoto University, Japan, Visiting Scholar of Wuhan University

 

Under the strategy of strengthening the country by sea, the color of criminal jurisdiction in maritime legislation in China's sea-related legislation has become more and more intense. Article 90, paragraph 3, of the Marine Environmental Protection Act is the basis of domestic law for the criminal jurisdiction of foreign ship pollution in the exclusive economic zone. However, due to the limitation of the scope of space effect of Article 338 of the Criminal Law, under the current legal system it is impossible to investigate the actual problem of criminal liability of foreign ships in the exclusive economic zone through the exercise of criminal jurisdiction. The perfect path of the current legal system is to clearly define the applicability of Article 338 of the Criminal Law to the pollution of foreign ships in the exclusive economic zone, and must comply with the restrictions imposed by Article 230, paragraph 1, of the Convention when setting penalties. Criminal penalties for foreign ship pollution in the exclusive economic zone shall be limited to fines.

 

Sun Chuanxiang Associate Professor, Hunan Institute of Humanities and Technology

 

The recent judicial practice of maritime demarcation shows that the international maritime delimitation has gradually emerged a theory of three-stage demarcation. However, whether it is the determination of the temporary equidistance or intermediate line in the first stage, or the adjustment of the temporary equidistance line in the second stage or the proportional detection in the third stage, the three-stage delimitation theory is exposed in judicial practice. There are many problems, of which the existence directly affects the realization of the fair results of maritime delimitation. In 2018, the Costa Rican and Nicaragua cases have a new development in the three-stage delimitation theory. It is of great practical significance and theoretical value to analyze the judicial practice and development trend of the three-stage demarcation theory.

 

Dong Shijie, Doctor of Law, Lecturer of Wuhan University China Institute of Boundary and Ocean Studies

 

In determining whether a dispute arising out of an activity falls within the ‘disputes concerning military activities’ under Article 298, paragraph 1 (b) of the Convention, it is necessary to pay attention to whether the activity is ‘on military activity’ rather than ‘military Activity itself’. The key to judging whether a particular activity is ‘on military activity’ depends on whether it is related to ‘military activities.’ The ‘military activity’ used in article 298, paragraph 1 (b), is a neutral term that includes both international law and international law. The so-called ‘militarization threatens international peace and security’ is not allowed under international law. As for judging whether the disputed territory is militarized, the key is whether the military activities in the disputed territory exceed the ‘necessary military defense needs’. If it is exceeded, it will constitute militarization, and vice versa.

 

Jianghe Professor, Zhongnan University of Economics and Law

 

The strengthening of China's diplomatic soft power should be based on the basic categories of international law. The specific meaning of soft power refers to the ability to make others meet the goals they want to achieve by attracting rather than forcing. Through the interaction between macro strategy and micro tactics, the establishment of soft power and the creation of maritime rights and the ability to obtain rights in disputed areas, China needs to construct diplomatic soft power in the South China Sea.

 

Zeng Wei, Associate Professor, National University of Defense Technology

 

Linking the Sino-Indian border issue to the ‘Tibet issue’ is the consistent policy of the Indian government. In the dispute over the western section of the Sino-Indian border, India believes that the border between China's Tibet and India's Ladakh has long been demarcated by the ‘Boundary Treaty’ such as the ‘1684 Treaty’, the‘184 Treaty’ and the ‘185 Treaty’. However, the contracting parties to these so-called border treaties are all local authorities in Tibet, not the central government of China. In order to solve this ‘legal problem’, the Indian government used the ‘Tibet independence from ancient times’ as the so-called legal basis to prove that Tibet has the ability to contract. However, since the Yuan Dynasty, China has officially obtained sovereignty over Tibet, and this ‘sovereign chain’ has never broken. At the time of the contract, Tibet, as the cadre of the Qing government, did not have the capacity to contract. Therefore, any agreement between Tibet and foreign countries does not have the effect of international law. It can be seen that the Tibet section of the western boundary of China and India has not been formally demarcated without a treaty. There is only one traditional custom line in this region that has gradually formed according to the historical administrative jurisdiction of both sides.

 

Huang Wei , Associate Professor, Wuhan University

 

The Convention for the Protection of Underwater Cultural Heritage is the only international convention in the international community that specifically regulates the content of underwater cultural heritage. It embodies the advanced concept of protecting underwater cultural heritage and represents the trend of international development, but China has not yet joined. On the basis of clarifying the necessity of China's accession to the Convention, this paper sorts out and analyzes the main obstacles facing China, namely, target obstacles, institutional obstacles, executive obstacles and technical obstacles, and refers to some representative parties to join. The difficulties and practices faced by the Convention finally put forward the idea of China overcoming obstacles. The obstacles facing China are mostly related to historical reasons, national sentiments, traditional concepts, legislative techniques and other deep-seated reasons, and are subject to many realistic conditions. Therefore, overcoming these obstacles requires a long and difficult process. However, China should look at this issue from an international perspective and a development perspective, laying the foundation for a long-term development.

 

He Hairong, Associate Professor, Hainan University

 

The joint development of outer Continental Shelf of Seychelles and Mauritius is the latest development, which reflects the development trend of the overall utilization and management, development and protection of marine ecology. It is foreseeable that the future development and management of the sea will be based on sustainable development and prevention, with cooperation as the main path and marine protected areas as the main means.

 

Yang Zewei, ‘Distinguished Scholar of Luojia’ and Second Professor, Wuhan University

 

Global ocean governance is the product of historical development, and its development and evolution can be divided into four stages. The signing of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea marks the establishment of a contemporary global ocean governance system. The contemporary global ocean governance system has many deficiencies such as ambiguous rules and fragmentation of governance mechanisms, but it can be improved through the establishment of a sound review mechanism of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and the establishment of supplementary agreements of a special nature. China has participated in the transformation of the global marine governance system since 1972. There are many experiences and lessons, such as the positioning of developing countries, which is conducive to China’s support from the vast majority of countries in the international community. China’s position and proposition should be based on its own maritime rights and interests. Maintenance is based on ideology, and it cannot be based solely on ideological considerations; China should pay attention to the balance between short-term interests and long-term interests, and avoid some rules of the global ocean governance system as the shackles of China's peaceful development and implementation of the strategy of maritime power. The reorientation of national identity is a prerequisite for China's future participation in the transformation of the global ocean governance system. China can initiate the establishment of the ‘World Ocean Organization’ through the initiative to further enhance China’s agenda setting, drafting and contracting capabilities in the process of formulating international treaty rules for the global ocean governance system, in order to promote the transformation of the contemporary global ocean governance system annd enhance China's right to speak in the future reform of the global ocean governance system.