Study On International Sea Order And China Sea Strategy

The 21st century is the century of the sea. Mankind has got into a new era of total exploitation and utilization of the marine resources. The sea is considered the second space for mankind's continuous development. The UN Convention on the Law of the Sea divided the sea and ocean into different areas, and laid the groundwork of international sea order. The rules and institutions established by the Convention have been accepted widely around the world. It reflected the great efforts of international society to distribute sea rights and interests through international legal institutions of the sea, also it embodied a historical tendency of the development from politics of hegemony to politics of rights.By the theory and means of international law, I try to analyze the evolution of international sea order, problems and challenges and the tendency of its development; point out that international law has an essential function to keep and promote the sea order; the proper sea rights and interests may be claimed and gained only under the Convention. At the same time, the legalization of international marine order is limited under anarchy. The construction of the order still has a long way to go. The Chinese government should take the opportunity to consider meticulously the ratification of the Convention, and play more important role to maintain the peace and stability of regional order. Thus, this paper constituted of five chapters.Chapterâ… ,the values and principles of the international Sea order. In the evolution of international sea order, the intension of values enriched and perfected along with the principles. This chapter started the analysis with the changeable values from peace order to safety, freedom and fairness order, and the rise of the common heritage of mankind; pointed out that along with the development of science and technology as well as the deepened level of understanding of the sea, the values had a variety and administrative levels. The change of the sea order is the change of its principles, and each change of the principles means the improvement of the guidance of international law.Chapterâ…¡, the evolution of international sea order. This section mainly studied the change of treaty basis, founding norms, and the maintenance of international law; figured out that international law performed more essential function to international sea order. On the basis of this, indicated that law is an implement of order, while order is expected to change and develop within the frame of law. The purpose of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea is to build a harmonious and orderly international sea society, by way of institutions construction.Chapterâ…¢, the transformation pressure and predicament of contemporary international sea order. Based on the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, international marine order was a process which was full of struggle and compromise. It reflected the complicated nature of international marine relations. However, contemporary sea order faced new issues and challenges. In this section, the paper revealed the main factors of the transformation pressure, such as promoted value, enhanced strategic position, deepened interdependence; pointed out that the defects of international marine rules and norms caused the predicament of contemporary international sea order. With the development of nations'practice, sea competition will run more intense, and the construction of new marine order becomes more difficult.Chapterâ…£, the legalization tendency of international sea order. This chapter studied the political basis and legalization tendency of international sea order, indicated that legalization is an inevitable trend in developing international marine relations. The participation and coordination of multi-units, along with the multi-structure of sea interests will become the most important promoting force. Meanwhile, the limitedness of international legal institutions cannot be neglected. At present, the theory and practice of joint development proved the possibility of legalization, in some area, or in some field. Thus, it adds to the construction of international sea order.Chapterâ…¤, China sea strategy. The development and legalization of international sea order provide guidance to the formulation of our national sea strategy. This section indicated that the sea strategy should follow the national interests principle, limited and defensive sea power principle, and the international law criterion. The objective of sea strategy is to bring about the transformation from a large sea country to a strong sea country, to keep peace and stability of East Asia, and to take an active part in the construction of international marine order. In the third part of this section, the paper mainly studied the way of settlement of the dispute about East China Sea between China and Japan, also took it as an observation of the implementation of China sea strategy.As China is in harmony with the world system gradually and becoming a responsible major country, it has become a key issue in China peaceful development theory to exert the effect of established international legal institutions and defend our sea rights and interests more effectively. To study the construction of international sea order from international law angle will be helpful to enhance the combination of international sea politics and international law research, it will also benefit us from theory and reality to make our national sea strategy.