Research On The Dispute Of The Arctic Passage Ownership

As the global climate is becoming warmer, the value of the Arctic Passage isbecoming more and more important. As far as now, there is no international law thatclearly defines the legal status of the Arctic Passage. However, the absence of the legalstatus of the Arctic Passage leads to intense competition. Therefore, through the use ofHistorical Analysis Method, Document Analysis Method, Specification AnalysisMethod and Comparative Analysis Method, we hope to find a new solution of thedispute on the ownership of the Arctic Passage. It can not only fill the legal blank, butalso can promote academic development. Besides, it is also very important for ourChinese maritime development and national security.As early as the Middle Ages, our human beings have begun the exploration of theArctic Passage, and finally found two of the most valuable waterways in the Arctic.They are the Northwest Passage and the Northeast Passage, which is the definition ofthe Arctic Passage in the narrow sense. These years the value of the Arctic Passage isbecoming more and more important, but there is no specifically provisions of the legalstatus of the Arctic Passage. So countries in the world begin the fierce competition forthe ownership of the Arctic Passage.Canada and Russia separately put forward requirements of the sovereign rights ofthe Northwest Passage and the Northeast Passage. They also come up with the sectorprinciple, the historic waters and the straight baselines, as well as the relevant domesticlegislations. However, all these legal basises are inadequate. On the contrary, the USthink that the Arctic Passage is strits used for international navigation. But we can findthat the Arctic Passage doesn’t satisfy the functional standards of the strits used forinternational navigation. Therefore, maybe in the future it can satisfy the functionalstandard of the Strits Used for International Navigation.Now there are mainly four kinds of solutions to the Arctic passage ownershipissues in the academic world, while we can find there are still many difficult problemsthrough study on the four solutions. Therefore, the the mode Svalbard Treaty as a newsolution mode come into being. If the parties want to use the Arctic Passage, they mustcomply with the jurisdiction of Canada and Russia. In addition, we should notice thespecial environment, politics and history of the Arctic when create the new mode. Toprove the feasibility of this mode, the paper analyzes the positions of the parties to thedispute, the status of the Arctic passage as well as the Straits of Malacca, hoping thenew approach can contribute to the Arctic passage dispute settlement process.