The Discussion On Solving The Conflict Of Sea Rights And Interests Between China And Japan Under The Principle Of "Laying Disputes Aside And Developing Together"

The phenomenon of "developing together" appears as the development of sea oil and gas resources as well as the seaside countries' expansion of sea jurisdiction. And mainly it refers to the resource exploration and development in the borders and controversial areas in some certain ways of cooperation on the basis of agreements between governments. Its historical evolution and the legal practice, generally speaking, may be divided into three stages, birth, development, and adjustment. It has the following legal characteristics: free choice, sovereign entity, object sharing, real function and interim arrangement. Its legal foundation is identical with the stipulation of "The Agreement of United Nations Sea Laws". It is the temporary arrangement of the consultation among some related countries' before the success of delimiting negotiations. Thus it is a feasible functional cooperative rules based on the foundation of perfect international law theories of solving the problems of exploring the sea resources in the borders and controversial sea areas and smoothing the frontiers conflicts between countries, but not the customary regulation of international laws. So whether the principle of "developing together" makes its effect on solving the problems of sea resources depends on the fact of each certain country."Laying disputes aside and developing together" is proposed by Chinese government in the late 1970s for solving the sovereignty dispute on Diaoyu Island with Japanese governments. It gradually develops into China's standpoint of solving the conflicts of sea rights and interests between China and its neighboring countries. After the signature of "The Agreement of United Nations Sea Laws", the disputing field enlarged from the sovereignty of Diaoyu Island to exclusive economic zone and continental shelf delimitation because of the different understandings between China and Japan, and it leaded to a long-term standstill without any progress on the problem solving. In this case, Chinese government still insists on applying the principle to solve the disputes in Nansha Islands and its sea area and gets a preliminary success.With respect to legal factors, the following factors made great effects on the...