Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Territorial waters South China Sea'

Thesis (Ph. D.) -- University of Maryland, College Park, 2005.
Thesis research directed by: Government and Politics. Title from t.p. of PDF. Includes bibliographical references. Published by UMI Dissertation Services, Ann Arbor, Mich. Also available in paper.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, 2007.
Ph.D. in Marine Environmental Science. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 168-184). Also available in electronic version.

This thesis considers the maritime boundary dispute between China and Japan in the East China Sea in an attempt to resolve the dilemma of continental shelf entitlement and delimitation. The dispute concerns how to delimit a maritime boundary where the parties rely on the different basis for continental shelf entitlement provided for in Article 76(1) of UNCLOS, namely natural prolongation and distance, and the area to be delimited is less than 400 nautical miles when measured from the coasts of both States. China asserts its entitlement based on natural prolongation to the outer edge of the continental margin, while Japan claims a 200 nautical mile distance continental shelf. Using the doctrinal approach, this thesis notes that delimitation must be carried out in accordance with entitlement and focuses on an analysis of the meaning of Article 76(1), enquiring into the role of natural prolongation in the establishment of the outer edge of the continental margin beyond 200 nautical miles. It re-assesses the ICJ's decision in the Libya/Malta case where it was held that unless the delimitation area is at least 400 nautical miles, natural prolongation is irrelevant. This thesis considers the status of natural prolongation under customary international law and UNCLOS, arguing that natural prolongation is a valid basis for continental shelf entitlement. In critiquing the Libya/Malta decision, this thesis argues that there is no 400 nautical mile rule in UNCLOS, that the determination of each State's entitlement must be conducted on an individual basis, the length of the delimitation area being immaterial. Arguing that the two criteria of natural prolongation and distance are equally valid, this thesis found that they could be applied simultaneously over the same area to determine the area of overlapping entitlements, which is then the area to be delimited. Other connected issues to this dispute including the role of the Diaoyu/Senkaku Island dispute and the duty of States in disputed maritime areas are also discussed in relation to the main delimitation question. On the basis of the analysis, two options for delimiting the East China Sea were considered: the three-stage methodology and an alternative involving the use of a median line to divide the area of overlapping entitlements. In both methods, the position taken was that natural prolongation and distance should be reflected as relevant circumstances. Thus, it was acknowledged that both methods could produce similar results. However, the second option was shown to be preferable as it is embodies the quality of objectivity compared with the threestage methodology where adjusting the line in the second stage to take account of relevant circumstances proved to be subjective and unpredictable.

China’s military modernization has allowed it to take a more assertive position on the territorial disputes it currently has with Japan and its Southeast Asian neighbors. The South China Sea (SCS) dispute is a clear example. Meanwhile, Japan is normalizing its military status to play a more proactive security role in the region. Japan’s normalization process has been greatly influenced by China’s growing military capabilities as it fears that China could pose a threat to its sea lanes of communications. Although Japan does not have territorial claims in the SCS, it regards the SCS as a strategically vital area. It is this particular concern that has brought Japan into the current territorial disputes in the SCS. This thesis analyzes how Japan has tried to forge partnerships with Southeast Asian countries in the form of foreign aid and the provision of military equipment and training that can potentially offset China’s assertiveness.

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The South China Sea is one of the maritime hot spots in the world and perhaps accounts for more clashes than other disputed waters, due to the abundancy of the natural resources that can fulfill the region’s rising demand of energy and food. Six countries currently claim some or the whole part of the South China Sea: Brunei, China, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Vietnam, all with overlapping claims. Although the South China Sea claimant countries have clashes with each other, the close proximity of the Philippines and Vietnam to China has contributed the greatest number of clashes. The modernization of naval forces in the region, combined with the increasing frequency and seriousness of these clashes, suggests that they may escalate to the level of military conflict. However, in almost every case, the vessels involved are civilian, not military. Without coordination and control between those agencies and naval forces from each country, there is a risk that those incidents could still escalate into military conflict. This condition highlights the importance of Civil-Military Relations; in particular, effective coordination between civil and military agencies within each country, and between the civilian and military agencies of each party in the dispute.

This thesis examines the deep bilateral tensions surrounding the East China Sea (ECS) disagreements between Japan and the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in the period from August 19th 2003 to June 18th 2008 from an actor-centred constructivist liberal viewpoint. The East China Sea disputes could be described as a conflicting difference of opinion over a) the demarcation of maritime territory and Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ) in which potentially significant energy deposits exist and b) the ownership of the strategically important and historically sensitive Pinnacle (Senkaku/Diaoyu) Islands. This research addresses the question of why, given the fact that China and Japan have a strong interest in co-operation and stable relations with each other, small incidents in the ECS blow up into larger problems, cause approaches to the East China Sea to wax and wane, and move the relationship in a direction that goes against preferred national objectives? In attempting to unravel this puzzle, this work argues that domestic politics and popular negative sentiment have been the major issues that have greatly amplified and politicised the ECS problems and have significantly affected positive progress in negotiations aimed at managing and stabilising these disputes. By examining these, the thesis addresses the question of why China and Japan have been so constrained in their attempts to find a workable bilateral agreement over disputed energy resources and demarcation in the East China Sea. It also indirectly deals with the question of why the conflicting legal complexities surrounding these disagreements contributed to both states so fervently maintaining and defending their claims.

Sovereignty over the South China Sea waters and the territorial features therein has been a contentious issue since at least the 1970’s, with conflicting claims going back even further. Key concepts of Liberal and Neo-Realist International Relations Theory are used to assess respective theory’s explanatory capability for why the South China Sea Dispute is difficult to settle. The scope of the study is limited to three pairings of international relations: China-Philippines, China-Vietnam and China-USA. The analysis concerns the development of these sets of international relations from 2016 up until now. The findings point to unilateral action by one claimant in the face of contesting claims by another as being one of the main factors perpetuating the conflict. Treaties and international law are designed with Liberal development of international relations in mind, but in practice Neo-Realist hard power politics interrupts this development. Examples of disruptive action include attempts to unilaterally exploit natural resources in the region, settling features in the sea, doing construction work on features in the sea, as well as regular FONOPS conducted by navy ships in the region. Finally, there are difficulties settling on a mechanism for sovereignty settlement, as China makes its claims based on historic- or historical claims, rather than international law as it is written out in UNCLOS.

碩士
銘傳大學
社會與安全管理學系兩岸關係與安全管理碩士在職專班
104
South China Sea Islands, found in the Han-Tang Dynasty, is the place which fishermen seek a livelihood and shelter. However through dynasty change, China starts to bring it into domain, set provinces and send troops. Hence, it implies that people lived in South China Sea Islands from the past. After the WWII, Japan returned the occupied land to ROC (including the South China Sea Islands), leading ROC and PRC considering that each owned its sovereignty. Meanwhile, ROC’s Ministry of Interior mapped the 11-fraction line in 1947, claiming that it owned the territory, and the U-shaped line; Mainland China changed from 11-fraction line to 9-fraction line in 1953, which makes the issue of the South China Sea Islands’ sovereignty became complicated. In fact, the reason why countries near the South China Sea Islands (ROC, PRC, Philippines, and so forth) have so many conflicts on the issue is due to the fact that United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea just regulates the territory, but it does not define the marine space ownership, so nowadays problems appear constantly. Another reason is that there are abundant seafood supplies in the region, and also by broadening its own territory, countries can get various kinds of natural resources (fuel, gas, and so forth). Therefore, each of countries quotes the International Law to announce arbitration on Permanent Court of Arbitration, expecting itself to gain the actual sovereignty of the South China Sea Islands. Besides, our government should reinforce the sovereignty of South China Sea, increase it's visibility on the international and legislate for territorial sea. At the same time, we need to submit our best decision and insist our claims on U-Shaped Line, which is the most important mission of our government.

China’s foreign policy in Southeast Asia regarding the South China Sea disputes has fundamentally changed since the end of the Cold War. Following the end of the Cold War, China transformed from a previous hostile and antagonistic stance towards Southeast Asian countries to a friendlier approach which is usually termed as a ‘good neighbor policy’. Many scholars especially constructivists therefore argue that China has changed its identity to become a benign rising power. Since 2010, however, China has again changed its diplomatic approach and became even more aggressive in its claims in the South China Sea disputes. Why was there such a dramatic change in China’s regional foreign policy? Constructivists remain silent in answering this question. This study argues that the change of power distribution between China and other states in Southeast Asia is the major driving force that has facilitated change in Beijing’s diplomatic approach to this region since the end of the Cold War. Through a historical analysis within an offensive realist theoretical framework, this study concludes that China’s change of its diplomatic approach is mainly driven by change of power distribution in the region, or in other words, by realist factors.

碩士
國立中山大學
海洋地質及化學研究所
101
The Luzon Strait is located between Taiwan and the Philippines, and is the main channel connecting the West Philippine Sea (WPS) and the South China Sea (SCS). While El Nino events are the focal points for global climate change research, their influence on the distribution of carbonate parameters in the Western Pacific is still uncertain. The aim of this study is to discuss the seasonal variation of water masses between the South China Sea water and the West Philippine Sea water during normal, El Nino and La Nina events. Implications on the transport of carbonate species will then be touched upon. This study focuses on the area between 120 °E to 124 °E and 18 °N to 22 °N and clearly identifies the subsurface water and the intermediate water fronts between the SCS and the WPS. The intermediate water front is located at about 122°E, but there are slight differences in latitudes influenced by El Nino and La Nina events. During El Nino periods, the salinity and pH are higher, but the normalized dissolved inorganic carbon (NDIC) is lower in the subsurface water than during the normal periods. Due to the North Equatorial Currents bifurcation point being more northward, more WPS subsurface water is transported to the SCS during the El Nino period, and vice versa during the La Nina period. This phenomenon affects the flow of the WPS water to the Penghu Channel. The flux of the subsurface water from the WPS into the SCS and the Penghu Channel during El Nino events is greater than that during normal periods, and is the least during La Nina events.

碩士
淡江大學
東南亞研究所
86
The ROC government claimed that the water of the South China Sea enclosed by the "U"-shaped line is the ROC''s historic waters is 1992. Moreover, in the Guideline for Nanhai (South China Sea) policy approved by the ROC Executive Yuan in April 1993, the water enclosed by the "U"-shaped line are claimed again as the ROC''s historic waters and subject to the jurisdiction of the ROC. 　　The ROC claim to nearly 80% of the South China Sea as its historic waters. This claim will have a trmendous impact on the future delimitaton of maritime boundaries in the area. There are six states claim title to all or part of the South China Sea--the ROC, the PRC, the SRV (Socialist Republic of Vietnam ), the Philoppines, Malaysia, and Brunei. ROC''s claim will deepen animosity among the six claimants and there is an urgent need to explore the issue thoroughly. 　　This thesis will examine the legal status regarding Taiwan''s claim to the waters of the South China Sea enclosed by the "U"-shaped line as its historic waters. This thesis is divided into five chapters except introduction and conclusion. The summary of each chapter will be described in the following paragraphs: 　　Chapter1: South China Sea Surrounding and ROC''s "Historic Waters" Claim. In this chapter will discuss the claims of the ROC and introduce briefly about the South China Sea''s situation, water, territorial sea dispute, and internaional political. 　　Chapter2: The concept of "Historic Water" . The major issue of this chapter is dealing with domestic and abroad scholars'' atudies and UN Secretariat''s two preparatory documents, that was published in 1957 and 1962, about Historic bay (Water). The prupose of discussing forenamed issues is to find out what is the general concept of Historic Waters. 　　Chapter3: Whether the "Historic Water" is internation Law Standard. This chapter is to exmine "Historic Water" by using the source of International Law---Common International Law and Treaty Law. In dealing with Common Law, this chapter will discuss and examine the State Practices regarding "Historic Water"(including Historic Bay and Archipelago) in the world. 　　Chapter4: The Evaluaton of ROC''s "Historic Water" Claim. Using preamble concepts to evaluate the legal status of "Historic Water" of South China Sea claimed by ROC. There are two main issues: (1)What is "U"-shaped line; (2)the legal status of the waters enclosed by the "U"-shaped line, namely, whether the "U"-shaped line is "Baseline" or it''s not and whether the waters enclosed by the "U"-shaped line is ROC''s "Historic Water" or it''s not. 　　Chapter5: The Principles of deal with Martime Dispute in South China Sea. After Studying, I found out that ROC government couldn''t claim Historic Waters and "U"-shaped line in the South China Sea. The maritime rights of South China Sea depend depend on the authority of islands of South China Sea.

Except for direct drilling and sampling of marine gas hydrates, the occurrence of gas hydrates has been identified generally by inference from indirect evidence, derived from geological, geophysical, and geochemical data. In this paper, we intend to discuss the geochemical anomalies of pore waters and their implications for gas hydrate occurrence in the northern continental slope of the South China Sea. The molecular concentration and isotopic composition of methane in sediments can provide clues to gas sources, whereas ionic and isotopic compositions of pore waters, such as steep SO42- gradients, shallow SMI (sulfate-methane interface) depths; decreasing pore water chlorinity, and heavy oxygen isotopic compositions, are used to identify gas hydrate occurrence and the distribution and thickness of sediment layers containing gas hydrates. Other good geochemical indicators include anions and cations concentrations such as Br-, I-, PO43-, NH4+, Ca2+, Mg2+, Sr2+, B3+, Li+, and Ba2+ in pore waters. We also found that the very negative carbon isotopic compositions of dissolve inorganic carbon (DIC) in pore waters can serve as good indicators for gas hydrate occurrence. In the South China Sea, three most promising target areas for gas hydrates include the Dongsha, Shenhu, and Xisha Trough.

Diploma thesis deals with disputes of contested territory in South China Sea region and describes the maritime trade in the region using statistical techniques. The theoretical part is focused on regional security of the region and legalistic theories. In practical part are described historical actions that took place in South China Sea and analysis of the commodities going through the South China Sea region. Analysis is based on Container port throughput, Liner shipping Connectivity index and export and import groups of goods and their impact on balance of trade.

碩士
國立政治大學
國家安全與大陸研究碩士在職專班
104
The South China Sea is one of the primary corridor for the Asia-Pacific region to the world. It is also the second most used sea lane in the world while the volume of transportation is one third of total world volume; over 50% of supertankers in the world passes through this area to mainland China, Taiwan, Japan and Korea every year. Furthermore, the South China Sea is also the dominant channel for the East Asian countries to transport the commodities and materials of energy. Currently, 85% of transportation of petroleum exported to China, Taiwan, Japan, and Korea indispensably passes through this area; 90% of commodities imported to the United States of America from the East Asian countries also pass through this lane for the delivery to the North America area. Obviously, the South China Sea is not only significant to Taiwan, but regional countries of this area, even worldwide nations. The territorial disputes in the South China Sea is an extremely complicated issue and this issue involves the dominances of history, politics, economics and laws. The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) is subject to specify the maritime jurisdiction and sovereignty of coastal states. Nevertheless, some of the articles are still ambiguous and cause the issues on the maritime boundary, and such issues on conflict of sovereignty of the South China Sea Islands and the affiliated resources involve China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, and Philippine. Therefore, the issues on the South China Sea will not be only on the territorial disputes; but the disputes and conflict of determination of islands and reefs, and maritime boundary will be the principal cause of disputes and affect the maritime rights and interests on regional countries. Currently, what the dilemma of Taiwan is the diplomatic balance among the United States, Japan, ASEAN, and China. If the Cross-Strait relations is intimate, this will cause the misperceptions and distrust on the issues of disputes in South China Sea from the United States, Japan and ASEAN, and worsen diplomatic and trade relations with these countries. Alternatively, the Cross-Strait relations will be worse if Taiwan aligns the relations more closely with the United States, Japan, and ASEAN, the Cross-Strait Relations will deteriorate, and China will suppress the participation in the international community of Taiwan, therefore, Taiwan may confront the risk of economics and national security. Nowadays, the newly appointed government officials deliberately alienate themselves or exclude from China in foreign relations and trade policy, and such intention implies the officials would alter or eliminate the policy “Remain a peaceful situation with China, establish a friendly relationship with Japan, and strengthen a close cooperation with the United States”. That would evolve the far-reaching effects for the future of developments in Taiwan.

The northern margin of South China Sea contains several favorable areas for occurrence of gas hydrate. In this study, we collected pore water samples in two piston cores (X-01 and D-01) from Xisha Trough and Dongsha area, respectively, and the concentrations of sulfate and carbon isotopic compositions of dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) were measured. The results showed different geochemical characteristics in these two sites. The X-01 core shows relatively constant δ13C-DIC values and sulfate concentrations, which suggest that anaerobic methane oxidation (AMO) processes did not occur in this site. In contrast, very large variation in δ13C-DIC values and sulfate concentrations are revealed in D-01 core, and good linear correlations for sulfate gradients and δ13C-DIC values are observed. The calculated sulfate-methane interface (SMI) depth is 9.6 mbsf. These data indicate that an AMO process occurred in sediments with large methane flux from depth in the Dongsha area, which are comparable to other gas hydrate locations in the world oceans such as the Blake Ridge. We suggest that the Dongsha area is one of the most favorable targets for future gas hydrate exploration.

Territorial Disputes in South China Sea Abstract This diploma thesis deals with territorial disputes in the South China Sea and its participants. The aim of the thesis is to describe legal titles of all participants of the dispute and analyse their claims for areas in the South China Sea. The reason of the territorial dispute is based on the proximity of countries and the fact that the South China Sea contains a number of features that are claimed by surrounding countries whose claims exclude. Moreover, one of the participants - China, claims nearly 90% of the whole area. The thesis also describes provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea that are significant for the territorial dispute, as well as, means of the conflict solutions of the dispute provided in the Convention. The Philippines as one of the participants of the dispute decided to initiate arbitrary trial in order to find amicable settlement. The arbitrary tribunal ruled in favour of the Philippines in that matter, however as final chapter provides, China decided to ignore the arbitrary award and continues to supress other countries. Thus, an amicable solution of the dispute seems very unlikely in the near future. Key words South China Sea, exclusive economic zone, territorial dispute

Rozprawa była poświęcona roli Stowarzyszenia Narodów Azji Południowo-Wschodniej (Association of South-East Asian Nations, ASEAN) w realizacji interesów państw członkowskich tego stowarzyszenia względem Chińskiej Republiki Ludowej (ChRL). Jej podstawowym celem było ustalenie zależności pomiędzy funkcjonowaniem państwa w ramach organizacji międzynarodowej a realizacją jego zamierzeń, na przykładzie relacji między państwami Azji Południowo-Wschodniej a Chinami. Główna hipoteza pracy zakładała, że ASEAN nie jest efektywny w roli płaszczyzny realizacji interesów państw członkowskich wobec ChRL ze względu na to, że dążenia te są zbyt zróżnicowane, często przeciwstawne, i utrudniają stworzenie stałych koalicji. Nie ma też jednoznacznej korelacji między znaczeniem podmiotu w ramach ASEAN a stopniem realizacji jego interesów. Jednak ten stan nie doprowadzi do rozpadu Stowarzyszenia, ponieważ dla państw członkowskich nawet sytuacja, w której działania organizacji nie są zbieżne z ich interesami, jest bardziej korzystna niż brak wsparcia instytucjonalnego w kontaktach z Chinami. Analiza tego problemu wymagała rozdzielenia go na dwa podstawowe zagadnienia. Pierwszym z nich było ustalenie, jakie cele wobec ChRL mają poszczególne podmioty; drugim zaś – w jakim stopniu członkostwo w Stowarzyszeniu umożliwia lub utrudnia ich realizację. Do określenia interesów państw przyjęty został model analizy oparty na propozycji Iana Tsung-Yen Chena i Alana Hao Yanga (2013), odwołującej się do teorii równowagi zagrożenia wprowadzonej przez Stephena Walta (1996) oraz teorii oczekiwanych zysków ekonomicznych przedstawionej przez Dale’a Copelanda (1996). Zakładał on badanie dążeń państw ASEAN wobec ChRL na podstawie ich percepcji zagrożenia oraz oczekiwanych korzyści gospodarczych, przy uwzględnieniu roli czynnika historycznego. Na podstawie modelu autorka przeanalizowała dziesięć studiów przypadku obejmujących wszystkich członków Stowarzyszenia oraz ustaliła ich percepcję Chin, a następnie interesy i preferencje. W dalszej kolejności zidentyfikowane zostały dwa kluczowe czynniki wpływające na możliwość wypełnienia przez państwo swoich celów w ramach ASEAN, tj. pozycja wewnątrz organizacji oraz proces decyzyjny, a w szczególności meta-reżim decyzyjny (the ASEAN Way). Pozwoliło to na wskazanie potencjalnych grup interesu w ramach omawianej instytucji oraz na określenie skuteczności działań Stowarzyszenia dla realizacji interesów poszczególnych państw w ramach dwóch studiów przypadku odnoszących się do dwóch obszarów działalności ASEAN: bezpieczeństwa (spór terytorialny na Morzu Południowochińskim) oraz gospodarki (porozumienie ACFTA). Konkluzje przeprowadzonej analizy umożliwiły pozytywne zweryfikowanie hipotezy głównej. W toku przedstawionych rozważań wskazano również, że ograniczenia dla skuteczności działania ASEAN są warunkowane większą liczbą czynników niż zakładano na początku – prócz różnicy interesów istotny wpływ mają również odmienne preferencje dotyczące stopnia i sposobu wykorzystania Stowarzyszenia jako narzędzia polityki zagranicznej. Zaproponowane na podstawie uzyskanych wniosków prognozy zakładają utrzymanie przez ASEAN centralnej roli w procesie instytucjonalizacji współpracy regionalnej oraz w polityce jego państw członkowskich wobec Chin.
The topic of the dissertation was the role of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) in advancing of its member states’ national interests in relation to People’s Republic of China (PRC). The main goal was to ascertain the correlation between a state’s membership in an international organization, and the fulfilment of its national interests, using the examples of ASEAN and the PRC. The main hypothesis predicted that ASEAN is not an effective means of advancing the national interests of its member states in relation to the PRC due to the fact that their interests are too diverse or even contradictory, which hinders forming possible coalitions within the Association. There is also no clear correlation between the relative significance of a state within ASEAN and the degree of fulfilment of its interests. However it will not cause the dissolution of ASEAN as its institutional support in relations with China is considered crucial by all members – even those whose particular interests are not promoted by the Association. To verify the main hypothesis, the topic was divided into two main questions. Firstly, to ascertain the particular interests of each member state of ASEAN in relation to China; secondly, to what degree the membership in ASEAN promotes or hinders the fulfilment of the aforementioned interests. To determine the member states’ interests, the author proposed a model of analysis based on the concept introduced by Ian Tsung-Yen Chen and Alan Hao Yang (2013) which refers to the balance of threat theory by Stephen Walt (1996) and the theory of expected economic gains by Dale Copeland (1996). The purpose of the proposed model was to analyse the members’ interests towards China based on their perception of threat and expected gains of the economic cooperation, acknowledging also the historical context. The model was used in ten case studies which allowed to determine perceptions, and then interests and preferences of each ASEAN member state. Furthermore, the author identified two key factors influencing the ability of a state to advance its interests within ASEAN, namely its relative significance within the organization and the decision-making process – specifically, the meta-regime of decision-making (the ASEAN Way). This allowed to identify the potential groups of interest within the Association, as well as to evaluate the effectiveness of ASEAN as a means of advancing the national interests. The evaluation was based on two case studies related to the main areas of the Association’s activity: international security (the case of the territorial dispute on the South China Sea) and economic cooperation (the case of ACFTA). The conclusions of the analysis allowed to confirm the main hypothesis. What is more, the differing preferences for utilization of ASEAN as a means of conducting foreign policy were identified as another crucial factor affecting the Association’s effectiveness. Nevertheless, according the prognoses based on the presented conclusions ASEAN will remain a central actor in the regional cooperation, as well as a vital tool of its member states foreign policy towards China.