Research On Legal Issues Of South China Sea Mineral Resources Exploration

South China sea is rich in various mineral resources,in particular petroleum and natural gas, which has won South China Sea a fame of "the second Persian Gulf".In return,the economic and political importance has pushed South China Sea into the foci of many neighbouring countries. Since 1970s onwards, in order to explore and exploit mineral resources on South China Sea, many neighbouring countries have rushed to seize the island reef on the Sea either through delimitating Continental Shelf or establishing dedicated economic zones.Thereafter the situation in this region has appeared to be a highly complex picture and the sea area has turned into the biggest "spotlight" in terms of international sea area disputes,which has called for a largest number of countries getting involved in. In this sense, it is of great importance to apply a dimension of international law into the research on mineral resources exploration on South China Sea: on one hand this research is helpful to maintain China's sovereignty over territorial waters and to promote a rational exploration of the mineral resources and to pursue a sustainbale development in the region;on the other hand, the concerning research has great realistic and historical meanings in terms of solving international sea area disputes.Mineral resources exploration on South China Sea has covered a wide range of complicated legal issues, such as international public law,maritime law, private law, contract law, taxation law,etc.This research paper mainly focuses on the dimension of international law, in particular maritime law, to investigate issues concerning mineral resources exploration on South China Sea. In this paper, the author, first from the perspective of international law, lists four viable solutions on unpacking disputes over mineral resources exploration on South China Sea,i.e.negotiated border delimitation,maintaining current reality, judicial arbitration and co-exploration.Also the author analyses the strength and weakness of the above four scribed solutions and argues that co-exploration is so far the most effective and feasible way to explore the mineral resources on South China Sea.In addition, the author elaborates the theoretical basis of co-exploration, including domestic and international scholar's different interpretations on the theory of co-exploration and also puts forward its own definition on co-exploration;the author also generalizes the features of co-exploration and discusses the preliminary and direct legal basis of co-exploration.Based on which, the author explores the feasibility and obstacles of mineral resources exploration on South China Sea;summs up domestic and international scholar's recommendations on co-exploration; On the idea held by most Chinese scholars that "sovereignty belongs to China" is the prerequisite of "co-exploration",the author also provides its personal understandings;in conclusion, the author comes up with a generation of all the attempts ever carried out by China over co-exploration of mineral resources on South China Sea since 1980s and sets out some personal visions over the issue.