Part 2: Ignoring international law
China’s statements and
actions to "monopolize" the East Sea, with the latest act of illegal
deployment of the HD-981 oil rig deep in the continental shelf and the
exclusive economic zone of Vietnam, are irrational, and they seriously breach
international law.
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China's illegal deployment of the HD-981 oil rig
deep in the exclusive economic zone of Vietnam is unacceptable.
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China has ignored the most
basic spirit of the UN Charter. With the act of "invasion" of
sovereignty in the East Sea, China has violated the basic principles prescribed
in Article 2 of the UN Charter, especially the principle of sovereign equality,
prohibiting the use of and threatening to use force; settling disputes by
peaceful means, and not endangering peace and international security and
justice; and the principle of states being obliged to cooperate with each
other.
Beijing also has violated
Article 33 of the "peaceful settlement of disputes," which states:
The parties in disputes must firstly find a peaceful solution through
negotiation, investigation, conciliation, arbitration, judicial settlement, use
of organizations or regional agreements, or by other peaceful means.
China has seriously
violated international law, particularly the United Nations Convention on the
Law of the Sea 1982 (UNCLOS) of which it is a member. The UNCLOS allows coastal
states the right to set the exclusive economic zone that does not exceed 200
nautical miles from the baselines; as well as a continental shelf, with the
width from the baseline to the continental margin being the narrowest and
widest of 200 and 350 nautical miles.
But because the principles
of international law stipulate that "the land dominates the sea", the
width of any territorial waters in the East Sea should be based on the
projected direction from the mainland.
The settlement of
territorial water delimitation is expressed in the UNCLOS, in particular Article
15 (delimitation of territorial waters), Article 74 (delimitation of the
exclusive economic zone), Article 83 (continental shelf boundary) and Article
121 (regulation of the islands). To compare these provisions, the statement
about the "nine-dotted line” and the acts establishing sovereignty under
"this line" have no legal basis.
China’s use of force to occupy the Paracel
Islands and some islands of the Spratly Islands of Vietnam to assert
"legal" sovereignty in "relevant waters" and "adjacent
waters" under the "nine-dotted line" is a further wrong step.
Article 2, paragraph 4 of
the UN Charter states: "The territory of a State shall not be the object
of a military occupation by use of force contrary to the provisions of the
Charter."
Moreover, at the time of
1974, the government of South Vietnam filed a protest to the United Nations,
published a white paper on the islands and condemned the illegal invasion of
China over the Paracel Islands of Vietnam. Since then, Vietnam has always
confirmed Paracels and Spratlys Islands as inseparable parts of Vietnam's
territory.
Under international law, a
territorial occupation shall not be considered terminated simply by the
disappearance of evidence of physical occupation. In other words, the
disruption of expression of material occupation itself does not disrupt the
sovereignty of a country if they do not state its abandonment of the territory
clearly.
In accordance with this
direction, China’s claims that its deployment of drilling rig HD-981 17
nautical miles from the Tri Ton Island of the Paracel Islands was
"legal" is a fallacy. Only Vietnam – the country having the legal
rights to the Paracel Islands – has sovereignty and sovereign rights over the
area around it.
China has seriously
violated the agreements signed with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations
(ASEAN), particularly the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea
(DOC) signed in 2002.
According to this document,
the parties confirmed compliance to the objectives and principles of the UN
Charter and the UNCLOS; to a commitment to resolve territorial disputes by
peaceful measures, not using force or threatening to use force, in accordance
with the universal principles of international law; and to a commitment to
refrain from conducting activities that could increase tensions or disputes and
could affect peace and stability.
The recent activities of
China clearly breached the DOC because it "infringed" on the
Scarborough Shoal, which is about 124 nautical miles from the coast of the
Philippines and totally within this country’s exclusive economic zone of 200
nautical miles; setting the drilling rig 80 miles in the exclusive economic
zone of Vietnam, issuing a fishing ban in the East Sea, and claiming
sovereignty under the "nine-dotted line".
Finally, China’s words and
actions run counter to high-level commitments and agreements with Vietnam,
especially the agreement on the principles that resolve maritime issues between
the two countries in 2011.
To be continued...
Source: VOV/VNN
