A Study Of Conflict Of Maritime Laws And Their Coordination Related To Inland And Coastal Waters In China

China embraces large crisscrossed inland river systems and vast coastal waters, and has fostered a well-developed waterborne transport system, which system covers the inland waterway transport networks, headed by the Yangtze River, the Pearl River and the Heilongjiang River, the coastal routes connecting over 150 sea ports along the 18000-kilometer Chinese coastline, as well as the clusters of Taiwan ports, Hong Kong Port and the Port of Macau which enter into a "coopetition" relations with their mainland counterparts under the Chinese Sovereignty. Developed together with the said inland and coastal waterborne transport system are the booming ocean shipping lines which win wide attention and the international watercourse transport systems along the boundary rivers and multinational rivers like the Heilongjiang-Amur River and the Lancang-Mekong River which connect China’s inland waterways and urgently need attention.From the above-mentioned background comes the Study of Conflict of Maritime Laws and Their Coordination Relating to Inland and Coastal Waters in China, which includes five chapters listed as follows.Chapter I, Sketches of Carriage of Goods by Inland and Coastal Waters in China and Transboundary Waters Connecting Therewith, is to sketch out the carriage of goods by inland and coastal waters among Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan under the Chinese Sovereignty, and also the inland river transport, the river-and-sea coordinated transport and the international transport conducted along multinational rivers and boundary rivers running through China or along its border such as the Lancang-Mekong River and the Heilongjiang-Amur River.Chapter 2, Conflict of Maritime Laws in the Realm of Interregional Waterborne Carriage of Goods among Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan and the Coordinating Approaches (the 1st Half):Analysis of the Convergence and Divergence of Their Respective Maritime Legal Systems, is to compare in detail the substantive rules pertaining to contract of carriage of good by sea which are in force in each of the four regions and to reach a conclusion on which rules of the four regions share the same points or even identical to each other and which rules remain different so as to contradict each other.Chapter 3, titled as Conflict of Maritime Laws in the Realm of Interregional Waterborne Carriage of Goods among Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan and the Coordinating Approaches (the 2nd Half):Conflict of Laws and Their Coordinating Approaches, is to summarize the conflicted substantive rules enacted by the four regions for the contract of interregional waterborne carriage of goods, to examine the way to coordinate the conflicted rules of the four regions, and to put forward the approach of uniform substantive laws and that of uniform conflict-of-laws rules; and, for reference purposes, Draft Uniform Rules Relating to Contract for Interregional Waterborne Carriage of Goods in China and the suggested uniform conflict-of-laws rules on the contract for the interregional waterborne carriage of goods are prepared herein.Chapter 4, Interpersonal Conflict of Maritime Laws Arising from the Differentiated-Track Maritime Law Systems Relating to Inland and Coastal Waters in Mainland China and Their Coordination, firstly sums up the differentiated-track maritime law systems relating to inland and coastal waters in Mainland China, and then, with respect to whether to persist in or abrogate the said differentiated-track maritime law systems, probes into the relationship between such differentiated-track legal systems and interpersonal conflict of laws arising in this realm and reveals that differentiated-track legal systems give rise to interpersonal conflict of laws. In light of theory and practice of private interpersonal law, it is proposed in this chapter that, where different tracks are to be merged if necessary, a set of uniform rules may be established; in case of different tracks to be maintained, those interpersonal conflict-of-laws rules may be utilized to help choose applicable laws, based on which principle, draft conflict-of-laws rules are put forward aiming to tackle interpersonal conflict of maritime laws arising from the realms such as "coastal shipping of import/export laden containers carried out passingly by Chinese-funded foreign ships". As to different types and levels of conflict of laws intermingle with one another in China, a country with plural legal districts of Mainland, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan while, in certain legal district especially in Mainland, sub-level types of conflict of laws including interpersonal conflict of laws are still there, it is highly recommended in choosing applicable laws to use "the direct approach" and "the indirect approach" normally adopted where international conflict of laws intermingles with interregional conflict of laws.Chapter 5, Conflict of Maritime Laws Relating to Boundary Rivers and Multinational Rivers Connecting China’s Inland Rivers and Coordination Thereof, taking the Heilongjiang-Amur River and the Lancang-Mekong River for example, is to touch issues concerning conflict of maritime laws arising while conducting waterborne carriage of goods along the boundary rivers and multinational rivers which connect China’s inland rivers. On the part of the Heilongjiang-Amur River, four modes of waterborne transport are talked about, namely the river-and-sea coordinated transport between China’s domestic inland ports and coastal ports via the Amur River, the inland river of Russia, the international river-and-sea coordinated transport involving China’s ports and ports of any third countries, Sino-Russia cross-border waterborne transport, and combined transport along the Heilongjiang-Amur River between carriers of China and Russia. As to the Lancang-Mekong River, three modes of transport are involved which are China’s domestic transport on the Lancang River, international waterborne transport between parties from China, Laos, Burma and Thailand, and, where navigation on the Upper and Lower Mekong River re-opening in the near future, the international waterborne transport along the six basin countries including Cambodia and Vietnam. Based on the comparison among rules and regulations enacted by those countries along the Heilongjiang-Amur River and the Lancang-Mekong River relating to waterborne carriage of goods, suggestions with respect to tackling the conflict of laws are given in this chapter.To sum up all the chapters listed above, this paper, centering around waterborne carriage of goods, has portrayed those major types of conflict of maritime laws arising in the navigation on China’s inland and coastal waters, including boundary rivers and multinational rivers connecting China’s inland rivers, and, on the basis of theory and practice of maritime law and conflict of laws, has tentatively provided solutions to coordinate said conflict of laws so as to benefit maritime legislation in Mainland China, establishment and perfection of China’s interregional law systems and cooperation between China and its counterparts along boundary rivers and multinational rivers with respect to navigation thereon.