China’s “U-shaped Line in the South China Sea”
A map showing a huge U, submitted in 2009 with diplomatic notes sent to the Commission on The Limit of the Continental Shelf, marks China’s claims in the South China Sea. “At stake are billions of dollars in fishing and mineral rights that all of the parties to the debate each claim as their own,” writes physicist Duong Danh Huy for Asia Sentinel. He analyzes interpretations of the map – as simply targeting the islands, with appropriate territory and exclusive zones, or broader historic rights that would encompass a larger area. For “the ‘historic rights’ argument, to be valid, two conditions must be satisfied,” he writes. “First, China must have legally acquired historic rights over the maritime space beyond 12 nautical miles from the disputed features prior to the existence of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. Second, these historic rights must be of the types that are preserved by that convention.” The writer concludes that China doesn’t have a case for historic rights. – YaleGlobal
