Mô tả
THE ISLANDS IN THE SOUTH CHINA SEA: HOW DOES THEIR PRESENCE LIMIT THE EXTENT OF THE HIGH SEAS AND THE AREA AND THE MARITIME ZONES OF THE MAINLAND COASTS?
Alex G. Oude Elferink, Netherlands Institute for the Law of the Sea Utrecht University Utrecht, the Netherlands.
This article will focus on these two law of the sea issues and will not address the sovereignty disputes over the islands, although any final delimitation of maritime zones of the South China Sea would require that the sovereignty disputes be addressed. The interest of the coastal states of the South China Sea in the island groups is explained in large part by their (potential) maritime zones having a considerable resource potential. This makes an assessment of the extent of the maritime zones of the islands in the South China Sea an essential element in evaluating any proposal for resolving the sovereignty disputes. Solutions for joint management or dividing the South China Sea that one or more states perceive as giving too little or too much weight to the islands may be difficult to accept. concluding paragraph.
