Mô tả
The South China Sea is a convergence of concerns about maritime security. With regard to traditional security, the escalating of conflicting territorial and maritime claims can lead to the ‘sound of cannon’ in the South China Sea. In the perspective of non-traditional security, the degrading biodiversity of marine environment, the over-exploitation of marine resources, the menacing of freedom and safety navigation and over flight and the instability of livelihoods of coastal residents are the current threats. All of these prospects put maritime security in the South China Sea at a high alert. The 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) is a multilateral and comprehensive legal framework which helps the countries promote peaceful, equitable and sustainable use and management of the sea with due regard to sovereignty of each other. With this objective, UNCLOS provides the basis for the countries in the South China Sea to curb and manage threats to maritime security. Although not create legal basis for solving sovereignty disputes, the Convention can be use to help the parties identify and narrow the subject of a sovereignty dispute. The Convention can provide a basis for the parties to make legitimate maritime claims and determine respective the rights and obligations of coastal states and other states. UNCLOS also establishes a mechanism for cooperation on environmental protection, marine scientific research and in particular cooperation obligations between littoral countries in the semi-enclosed seas. Dispute settlement mechanism of the Convention can be used to narrow down and proceed to resolve the dispute, in which countries are obliged to achieve temporary arrangements while pending for the final dispute settlement. In order to properly apply the provisions of the Convention to the specific situation of the South China Sea, countries should consider the Convention as legal basis to develop a legally binding code of conduct for the region.
