Peaceful Uses of East Asian Seas: An Editorial Note
The East Asian seas, from north to south geographically, include the Sea of Japan (East Sea), the Yellow Sea, the East China Sea and the South China Sea. All of these seas share the same characteristic in that they are defined as semi-enclosed under the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (LOSC).1 The bordering countries include Brunei, Cambodia, China (including Taiwan), Indonesia, Japan, the two Koreas, Malaysia, the Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. Natural resources are abundant in these seas and serve the peoples around them. On the other hand, aside from accompanying natural resources, there are also many pending maritime disputes which are typically illustrated by the South China Sea.
In order to maintain peaceful uses of these seas, there should be a maritime legal order which is supported by rules and institutions based on international law. The current such order in the world has been mainly established by and maintained under the LOSC, which is commonly regarded as the constitution of oceans and has incorporated almost all previously existing conventional and customary rules and norms concerning the oceans. Pursuant to the provisions of the LOSC, a coastal state has the right to establish maritime zones under its jurisdiction: internal waters inside the baselines which are used to measure the extent of the territorial sea and other jurisdictional waters; the territorial sea of 12 nautical miles (nm); the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of 200 nm; and the continental shelf of 200 nm (or up to 350 nm in some cases), outward from the baselines. Within these maritime zones, a coastal state is entitled to enjoy either sovereignty or sovereign rights and to exercise its jurisdiction and enforce its laws and regulations in accordance with international law. All 16 East Asian countries except Cambodia and North Korea have acceded to the LOSC. In order to implement the LOSC, these countries have adopted relevant domestic laws and regulations for the management of maritime zones and maritime activities within their jurisdiction.2
The LOSC provides that oceans and seas should be used for peaceful purposes, and any threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state, or in any other manner inconsistent with the principles of international law embodied in the Charter of the United Nations shall be prohibited.3 This special issue is designed to examine how and to what extent the international law of the sea plays a role in promoting and maintaining peace in East Asia seas. It divides the following sections for discussions: maintaining maritime peace and the law of the sea; peaceful uses of marine resources; promotion of marine scientific research for peace; and peaceful means for maritime dispute resolution. It is strongly believed that as long as international law, including customary law and the LOSC, can be well observed by the states in East Asia, peace and regional stability can be maintained and orderly cooperation and development can be promoted in East Asian seas.
Finally, it is specially acknowledged that the articles contained in this special issue are selected from the two international symposia sponsored by the Centre for Ocean Law and Governance of Zhejiang University, China and held in Hangzhou in 2012 and 2013, respectively. This Editor also expresses his own gratitude to all the contributors to this special issue and to the Editors-in-Chief, Seokwoo Lee and Hee Eun Lee, for their kindness to accommodate the selected contributions for the Asian Yearbook of International Law.
Keyuan Zou
Special Issue Editor