An Analysis On The Delimitation Of Continental Shelf In The East China Sea

The confrontation between Japan and China over the sovereign rights of theEast China Sea seems to be a never-ending story. Although the incident of theChunxiao Oil Field in2005have achieved the6·18Consensus，the Chinese normalmining activities still being harassed by Japanese aircrafts and ships. In2012，ignoring China’s resolute opposition，Japanese government openly implemented theso-called “nationalization” of the Diaoyu Islands, which pushed the East China Seacontinental shelf delimitation issue to the cusp again. Meanwhile，Chinese ForeignMinistry immediately announced that the Chinese government decided to submit thecase of the delimitation of the continental shelf beyond200nautical miles of the EastChina Sea, parts of the ocean. There is a huge difference in the principles ofdelimitation of the continental shelf, the Okinawa Trough and the Diaoyu betweenChina and Japan regarding their roles in the case. This essay focus on proving therationality and legality of the China’s assertion in the case via discussing threeparts(the principles、the Okinawa Trough and the Diaoyu islands)，as well as quoteinternational law and judicial practice.The essay consists of four parts. In the first part，it introduces an overview ofthe East China Sea continental shelf delimitation dispute. And then the second partdepicts the East China Sea continental shelf delimitation principles and relatedpractices of international justice，and followed by the third part discusses the legalstatus of the Diaoyu Islands and Okinawa Trough in the East China Sea continentalshelf in the dispute. Finally， the fourth part raises the deficiencies andrecommendations of delimitation of the continental shelf dispute.