South China Sea Arbitration News & Discussion

[INDIAPOSITIVE]

South China Sea dispute: India urges all parties to show respect for UNCLOS


New Delhi: India on Tuesday urged “all parties” to the South China Sea dispute to show “utmost respect” for the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) after a tribunal ruled that China had no historic title over the waters of the South China Sea.

“As a State Party to the UNCLOS, India urges all parties to show utmost respect for the UNCLOS, which establishes the international legal order of the seas and oceans,” the statement by the Indian foreign ministry said.

Though India did not name China, it was a clear reference to its Asian neighbour, which rejected the ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague.

“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China solemnly declares that the award is null and void and has no binding force. China neither accepts nor recognizes it,” a Chinese foreign ministry statement, made available in New Delhi, said.

Both India and China are party to the UNCLOS, which defines the rights and responsibilities of nations in their use of the world’s oceans. India had in July 2014 accepted an UNCLOS verdict that awarded Bangladesh 19,467 sq. km of 25,602 sq. km sea area of the Bay of Bengal.

Also Read: How the South China Sea dispute unfolded

“India supports freedom of navigation and over flight, and unimpeded commerce, based on the principles of international law, as reflected notably in the UNCLOS. India believes that States should resolve disputes through peaceful means without threat or use of force and exercise self-restraint in the conduct of activities that could complicate or escalate disputes affecting peace and stability,” the Indian statement said.

“Sea lanes of communication passing through the South China Sea are critical for peace, stability, prosperity and development,” it added.

The Indian statement seemed to mirror the statement put out by the US Department of State on the South China Sea ruling, in some ways.

“In the aftermath of this important decision, we urge all claimants to avoid provocative statements or actions. This decision can and should serve as a new opportunity to renew efforts to address maritime disputes peacefully,” state department spokesman John Kirby said.

http://www.livemint.com/Politics/1j...pute-India-urges-all-parties-to-show-res.html

 

[salarsikander]

@vtnsx calm down mare, this is Pakistani forum and these guys are biased towards Chinese.

Don't get yourself banned.

No not at all. Just accepting the natural order. YOu will not accept unilateral imposed on you wil ya ? You are inida not iraq or libya for that matter ( no offence to those countries) the only fact that you guys can sustain is because you're strong. Same logic goes with China

 

[XenoEnsi-14]

China still hasn't fired the first weapon. Game is still on.

 

[Director General]

Good move by India.

 

[ThaniOruvan]

Whether China obeys this ruling or not it is clearly evident that the world doesn't approve China.
Hague did not consider the fact that China is a permanent member of UNSC and an economic power and has ruled in favor of a country which is just 1/100th of China. If China does not respect this ruling then there will be talks like "China, one among the P5 has violated UN international framework". Should wait and watch. I am sure the sympathy-secreting and bully-panicking Chinese will have ready made answers.

 

[SrNair]

India is really enjoying this game right after that NSG fiasco.

 

[beijingwalker]

Whether US obeys the ruling or not it is clearly evident that the world doesn't approve China.
Hague did not consider the fact that US is a permanent member of UNSC and an economic power and has ruled in favor of a country which is just 1/100th of US. If US does not respect this ruling then there will be talks like "US, one among the P5 has violated UN international framework". Should wait and watch.

China’s Defiance of International Court Has Precedent—U.S. Defiance

 

[jha]

Isn't this what China wants? To establish that it can break with the legal order that was formulated when it was "weak"?

Poking in the eyes of every neighbor and earning life long enmity does not seem to be a smart strategy. But then who knows what China exactly wants ?

 

[William Hung]

I must admit the legal team on the Philippines side was very strong.

One of the important things that the Philippines had won was that it made the Tribunal officially rule that China’s claims are invalid, both historically and legally.

The more interesting implications, that many people haven’t raised yet, is that how will China respond to other disputes like the one with Japan, or even if countries like the US send ships near its territoty water. Will China still invoke UNCLOS or laws like it had previously done?

 

[beijingwalker]

Poking in the eyes of every neighbor and earning life long enmity does not seem to be a smart strategy. But then who knows what China exactly wants ?

China has 14 border sharing neighbors. India is the only country which China has land disputes with. It is India that has disputes with almost every neighbor. as for sea neighbor, Japan is the country who has island disputes with every single neighbor, China, Russia, N.Korea, S.Korea and Taiwan.

 

[#hydra#]

Let's hope Chinese will accept the verdict.

 

[beijingwalker]

You will see, business as usual, China will still be busy building land claiming islands and sending ships and fighter jets to those newly built air strips and make China's presence stronger every passing day.

 

[Reashot Xigwin]

Poking in the eyes of every neighbor and earning life long enmity does not seem to be a smart strategy. But then who knows what China exactly wants ?

"People in glass house shouldn't throw rock."

India is the same as China in these regard.

 

[Kwame Brown]

This will change absolutely nothing. China has already stated they reject and will not recognize this. International law only works for countries who have both the might and willingness to enforce it, and then only against countries who do not have the might and/or willingness to fight back. It's the same way USA rejected ICJ ruling in the Nicaragua case.

There are essentially two methods of enforcement that can be attempted: Military intervention and economic sanctions.

Military intervention is a non-starter. No country on earth is going to risk what would quickly and easily escalate into World War 3 over the South China sea. It's just not going to happen.

This leaves economic sanctions, and no country worth a damn is going to attempt to enforce economic sanctions on China, which would be detrimental to their own economy and would run the risk of China retaliating economically in return. Simply put, most countries outside of maybe the US would end up doing more harm to their own economies in the long run than they would do to China's. Any economic sanctions are virtually guaranteed never to be actually enforced.

So what's going to happen? Countries like the Philippines will make a whole bunch of noise. The international community will engage in a whole bunch of sabre rattling, toothless resolutions, condemnations, and "sternly worded letters". China will reply by telling them to mind their own business and stay out of "China's affairs", just like they always do. Then everybody will shrug and just move on with life.

International law doesn't really apply to countries like the US and China because they are way too strong militarily, and cornerstones of the global economy, making it impossible to fight economically. I'm not saying this is right, I'm just saying that this is the reality of the world we live in. For better or worse, some countries really are "above the law".

 

[jha]

"People in glass house shouldn't throw rock."

India is the same as China in these regard.

India last years accepted an arbitration ruling wrt Bangladesh. Not exactly a glasshouse in this sense.