This is a past event
Please join us for a seminar being given by Professor Clive Schofield, Director of Research & Acting Dean of Law, Australian Centre for Ocean Resources and Security (ANCORS) at the University of Wollongong, Australia. Professor Schofield will speak on, "Dangerous Ground: The Competing Geographies of the South China Sea." All are welcome to attend.
AbstractThe South China Sea is one of the most important yet contested ocean spaces in the world. Disputes over sovereignty of multiple small islands and competing claims to its waters severely complicate the management of the South China Sea’s valuable marine environment and resources. Among these island groups, the Spratly Islands have proved to be particularly troublesome. The area of the South China Sea occupied by the Spratlys group is aptly labelled “Dangerous Ground”, features on British Admiralty navigational charts.
On 12 July 2016 2016 the Arbitral Tribunal in the case between the Philippines and China delivered its Award. The Award has the hallmarks of a landmark decision in that it addresses multiple uncertainties and ambiguities in the law of the sea. As a result the Award, even though it is only binding on the Philippines and China in its specifics, will likely resound far beyond the South China Sea. It is, though, a contested decision as China has refused to accept the Award or the jurisdiction of the Tribunal to make it.
In particular, China’s historic claims to waters within the so-called ‘nine-dashed line’ claim were largely dismissed. The Tribunal also provided the first detailed judicial interpretation of the Regime of Islands under the law of the sea and reached the conclusion that all of the Spratly Islands as “rocks” which are therefore not able to generate maritime claims beyond a 12 nautical mile territorial sea. Moreover, the Award was explicit on the entitlements of artificial islands, of which China has constructed several among the Spratly Islands, as well as regarding China’s failure to protect and preserve the marine environment of the South China Sea.
In light of China’s vociferous rejection of the Award, this sets up a scenario of ominously competing geographies of the South China Sea. Significant potential for future conflict exists as China seeks to assert what it views as its historic rights in the South China Sea and other coastal states attempt to access the resources, such as oil and fish, which lie within what they firmly regard as ‘their’ waters. This not only compromises the protection of the region’s precious marine biodiversity and management of its abundant fisheries resources but threatens regional stability and freedom of navigation through waterways of global significance.
The presentation will highlight notable aspects of the law of the sea and the role of the Arbitration Tribunal’s Award in clarifying uncertainties, outline why the South China Sea is important and competing territorial and maritime claims therein, highlight conflicting spatial visions of the South China Sea and conclude with consideration of future prospects.
- Speaker
- Professor Clive Schofield
- Venue
- Zoology Lecture Theatre ZG18
- Contact
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For more information, please contact Dr Tavis Potts, School of Geosciences, Geography