South China Sea Forum

[Keel]

Oh I see! Now it's beginning to make sense. The guys who work on the offshore rigs are usually loaded with money.

What better place to relax than in a casino with a five star hotel. That massive building could be it!

work hard play hard

 

[EastSea]

China can’t alter legitimate rights of Vietnam in East Sea

VietNamNet Bridge – China cannot change the legal rights of Vietnam over the exclusive economic zone (EEZ), affirmed experts at a two-day conference themed “East Sea: Cooperation for Regional Security and Development” held from November 17-18 in the central city of Danang.

The two-day conference is the continuance of efforts to exchange opinions and seek experts’ ideas for the East Sea issue.

In the second working session on November 18, the scholars analyzed factors affecting the East Sea situation in recent times, namely the changed schemes of some countries on strategic interests of the concerned parties, the increasing nationalism of claimants, the impact of competition between major powers and the disagreement in explanation and application of international law in the East Sea, including the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

In regard to the recent East Sea situation and policies of the concerned parties, many speakers argued that the increase in the number and operations of paramilitary forces and non-law enforcement forces in the Sea East is one of the causes of tensions in the region. Notably, China’s large-scale expansion on the reefs in the Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelago is altering the status quo in the East Sea.

Dr. Hoang Viet, lecturer from the Ho Chi Minh City University of Law who is also a researcher on the East Sea said, "Many geographical entities and structures over the Truong Sa (Spratly) and Hoang Sa (Paracel) archipelagoes are just reefs but China said that the islands have been inhabited, and it has the rights in the EEZ and continental shelf. If China succeeds in improving the reefs, it would have submersible aircraft carriers that enable it to reach the goal of controlling the East Sea.

As Taiwanese and Japanese scholars have forecast, China is likely to declare an Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) in the Spratly islands and the East Sea.”

Dr Nguyen Thi Lan Anh, deputy dean of the International Law Department under the Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam said islands can cover a full sea area while artificial islands only have safe waters within only maximum 500m.

According to Dr. James Charles Kraska from Stockton Center for the Study of International Law of the US Naval War College said although China has illegally occupied the Paracel islands, lodging an unjustifiable nine-dotted line claim, it can not change Vietnam’s legal rights over the EEZ.

The same day, the experts also debated the provisions of international law adjusting the regulations of territorial waters and airspace, claims in the East Sea, marine dispute resolution and measures to build confidence and prevent maritime conflicts.

East Sea conference wraps up

The sixth International Conference on East Sea with in-depth discussions seeking experts’ ideas for the East Sea issue concluded in the central city of Danang on November 18.

Themed “East Sea: Cooperation for Regional Security and Development,” the event saw nearly 40 speeches and garnered 80 opinions from academics and specialists from Vietnam, Southeast Asian countries, the US, China, Taiwan (China), the Republic of Korea, Australia, India, the UK, France, Italy and Belgium.

Participants raised a concern that the East Sea is becoming a strategic competitive space for world powers.

However, some held that the complicated situation in the East Sea would be a chance for ASEAN and its partners to boost their positive role in seeking solutions to the issue.

Many expressed their interest in Indonesian President J. Widodo’s initiative on a “maritime axis” that is expected to see Indonesia’s greater contribution to fostering cooperation at the sea.

Participants agreed that regional organisations, including the European Union, should share their experience on the prevention and management over territorial and maritime disputes in the region.

They also gave much space to clarify legal regulations applied to the 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone and the continental shelf as well as the rights of coastal states over the areas.

They underscored that all parties should refrain from conducting any unilateral actions that could change the status quo in the East Sea. They stressed the need to strictly abide by regional agreements, including the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC).

Participants also pointed to the need to encourage cooperation and speed up the building of a regional legal framework based on international law, which would help maintain peace, stability, maritime and aviation security, safety and freedom.

They proposed that a code of conduct should be built to ensure the implementation of international law in the East Sea, while specific recommendations should be made to clarify Article 5 of the DOC.

Common rules applied for all armed forces and law enforcement authorities at sea should also be specified, while a cooperation mechanism for non-traditional security issues should be set up, they suggested.

They also highlighted the importance of making the best use of information sharing channels, as well as promoting partnership in managing maritime natural resources and protecting and preserving the maritime environment.

During the two-day event, experts and academics also analysed factors affecting the East Sea issue and measures to build trust as well as preventive diplomacy.

Concluding the conference, Ambassador Dang Dinh Quy, President of the Vietnam Academy of Diplomacy proposed the participants continue researching on the issues to help all parties concerned clearly understand their legal obligations in the maintenance of the status quo in the East Sea.

Source: VOV

 

[cnleio]

2014 December, China Fiery Cross Island

 

[ahojunk]

That looks suspiciously like a runway.

It has a "link road" to the original garrison building.

Haha. Still no sign of a casino.

 

[cnleio]

That looks suspiciously like a runway.

It has a "link road" to the original garrison building.

Haha. Still no sign of a casino.

Not finished yet untill to 2015.11, Runway first then bigger "Casino" coming.

 

[ahojunk]

Not finished yet, Runway first then bigger "Casino" coming.

You are right.

Damn, I am too impatient. (I have been spoilt by how fast China was reclaiming at Chigua).

Rotfl.

 

[cirr]

2014 December, China Fiery Cross Island

View attachment 162097

This pic is not an accurate reflection of the current status of construction work on the Yongshudao Island。

07.12.2014

 

[cnleio]

You are right.

Damn, I am too impatient. (I have been spoilt by how fast China was reclaiming at Chigua).

Rotfl.

I think Chinese r building the “Diego Garcia” in SCS, first base at this Fiery Cross Island (Now the 1st biggest island in SCS, continue building) ... China doing a great project bigger than other naions in SCS.

 

[ahojunk]

This pic is not an accurate reflection of the current status of construction work on the Yongshudao Island。

07.12.2014

View attachment 162179

This picture is blurry, I cannot see much.

 

[EastSea]

Last update 17:50 | 06/11/2014
0
China urged to stop illegal activities on Truong Sa
On October 6, a Vietnam Ministry of Foreign Affair representative presented a diplomatic note to the China Embassy in Hanoi, opposing China’s illegal activities on Chu Thap (Stone Cross) of Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelago.

In response to the wrongful act, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Le Hai Binh stated, "Vietnam has sufficient legal and historical evidence to affirm its sovereignty over Hoang Sa (Paracel) and Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelagos.
China’s aforesaid act has seriously violated Vietnam's sovereignty over the Spratly Islands and international law, running counter to the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC) as well as the agreement on the basic principles guiding the settlement of sea-related issues between Vietnam and China, disrupting the status quo and complicating the situation, detrimental to regional peace and stability.”

"Vietnam resolutely opposes the above unlawful act and asks China to respect the sovereignty of Vietnam, strictly implement the DOC, immediately put an end to the construction that have broken the status quo in Truong Sa islands, and prevent similar occurrences, " Binh emphasized.

VOV/VNN

 

[BoQ77]

In a statement Thursday December 11th, the Vietnamese foreign ministry spokesman Le Hai Binh has asked the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague to take Vietnam's legal interests and rights into consideration.

- What does this move by Vietnam mean?
- Is Vietnam really following The Philippines' path by seeking international arbitration?
- Does it means that there is a consensus in the Vietnam Politburo on the issue?

ANSWER: Vietnam has filed a formal statement of interest with the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA). This statement of interest in the China-Philippines case before the Arbitral Tribunal. In its statement Vietnam acknowledged that the PCA has jurisdiction over the Philippines' case. Vietnam asked that the PCA take due regard of its rights and interests. And Vietnam rejected China's nine-dashed line as having no legal basis. All three points stand in opposition to China's just released Position Paper which came out two days after Vietnam filed.

By expressing its interest in the case Vietnam is not joining the Philippines in taking legal action against China. But Vietnam's statement of interest will be noted by the arbitrators of the China-Philippines case. In other words although the case is a bilateral matter, the judgment of the arbitrators must take into account the interests of other parties likely to be affected by the outcome. It may be likely that by filling a statement of interest that the Arbitral Tribunal could invite Vietnam to make a presentation of its right and interests. In other words, Vietnam can make its legal case "through the back door".

There are mixed reports about the legal action that Vietnam was planning to take. It lodged its statement of interest on December 5 (coincidently the same day the U.S. State Department released its report, Limits in the Seas). Rumours have been flying around the diplomatic community that Vietnam was prepared to take stronger legal action and advised its close friends accordingly. At the last minute, if these rumours are correct, Vietnam chose the minimalist option. China issued its Position Paper two days later, on December 7th.

Vietnam's action also take place on the eve of the important tenth plenum of the Vietnam Communist Party's Central Committee. Vietnam's legal actions will be aimed at mollifying its domestic critics. These critics may not be completely satisfied but will be heartened by this action. The Central Committee like wise will have to temper whatever urge its members might harbour about taking legal action against China. They will have to accept and go along with the government's decision.

The timing of Vietnam move, coming on the day the State Department released its brief on the Limits In the Seas, and two days before the release of China's position paper, could not have been more propitious. Theese events, when taken as a whole, appear to be raising the salience of international law as a means of managing South China Sea territorial disputes. China will not be happy because it is hell bent on getting the Arbitral Tribunal to reject the Philippines' case.

 

[BoQ77]

Limits in the Seas
This series issued by the Office of Ocean and Polar Affairs, Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs in the Department of State aims to examine coastal States’ maritime claims and/or boundaries and assess their consistency with international law. The studies represent the views of the United States Government only on the specific matters discussed therein and does not necessarily reflect an acceptance of the of the limits claimed.
-12/05/14 No. 143 China's Maritime Claims in the South China Sea [1270 Kb]
-09/16/14 No. 142 Philippines' Maritime Claims and Boundaries [492 Kb]

 

[BoQ77]

The dashed line in analysis in "Limits in the Seas" posted by US State Department in the same day of Vietnam statement of interests sent to PCA.

 

[BoQ77]

Vietnam Launches Legal Challenge Against China’s South China Sea Claims
Vietnam lodges a submission at The Hague and rejects Chinese position paper on the South China Sea.

By Prashanth Parameswaran
December 12, 2014

Vietnam and China moved their saber-rattling over the South China Sea into the legal arena this week as Hanoi lodged a submission with an arbitral tribunal at The Hague and rejected a Chinese position paper. Beijing swiftly dismissed Vietnam’s challenge.

In a statement on Thursday, the Vietnamese foreign ministry rejected China’s December 7 position paper, which laid out Beijing’s legal objections to an arbitration case that the Philippines had filed against it.

“Vietnam’s established position is to resolutely object to China’s claims over Hoang Sa, Truong Sa islands and adjacent waters,” Vietnamese foreign ministry spokesman Le Hai Binh said, using the Vietnamese names for the Paracel and Spratly Islands.

Binh also suggested that Hanoi had sent a statement to the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) at The Hague, which is currently examining the Philippines’ case against China over the South China Sea disputes.

According to the South China Morning Post, Vietnam’s statement to the PCA, submitted last Friday, made three main claims in opposition to China’s stand. First, it recognized the court’s jurisdiction over the case submitted by the Philippines, which Beijing does not. Second, it requested that the court give “due regard” to Vietnam’s own legal rights and interests in the Spratlys, Paracels, and in its exclusive economic zone and continental shelf while deliberating on the case. Third and lastly, it rejected China’s infamous nine-dash line – which lays claim to about 90 percent of the South China Sea – as being “without legal basis.”

Hanoi’s actions are part of a concerted effort to respond to China’s growing assertiveness in the South China Sea, which has continued in 2014. In May, a Chinese state-owned oil company dispatched a deep sea drilling rig off the coast of Vietnam in disputed waters south of the Paracel Islands, which led to deadly boat clashes and anti-Chinese violence and plunged diplomatic relations to an all-time low. In response, Vietnamese prime minister Nguyen Tan Dung had said that Hanoi was “considering various actions, including legal actions in accordance with international law.”

By lodging a statement with the court – as opposed to directly joining the Philippines in its case – Vietnam has found a way to make its views heard but not alienate Beijing, which has warned Hanoi against joining Manila’s legal challenge. Beyond the legal realm, Vietnam has also taken a number of other actions, including slowly moving towards closer ties with the United States – made easier by the partial lifting of a U.S. lethal weapons embargo – and making its first-ever port call to the Philippines last month.

Predictably, China dismissed Vietnam’s sovereignty claims in its foreign ministry statement, labeling them “illegal and invalid” and emphasizing that “China will never accept such a claim.”

“China urges Vietnam to earnestly respect our territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and resolve relevant disputes regarding Nansha with China on the basis of respecting historical facts and international law so as to jointly maintain peace and stability on the South China Sea,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei said, using the Chinese name for the Spratly Islands.

The legal tussle between Beijing and Hanoi comes as the December 15 deadline nears for China to submit its defense in the arbitration case brought about by the Philippines. China is not expected to submit anything in response to the tribunal’s deadline, having already declared in its position paper that it would “neither accept nor participate in the arbitration.”

Two days before China released its position paper, the U.S. State Department published a study that questioned the validity of Beijing’s nine-dash line. China dismissed the study, claiming that it ignored basic facts and legal principles and was unhelpful in resolving the South China Sea issue.

 

[TheTruth]

Wonder how UN will arbitrate between PH and Vietnam