A Study Of Military Activity By Foreign Countries Within EEZ

Since 20th century, because of the advancement of the technology and the enhancement of exploration, the demand for the ocean is increasing. The rights and jurisdiction of the coastal States in the nearby waters expand with the codification of the law of the sea. The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea created a new regime, the exclusive economic zone which authorizes the coastal States to have sovereign rights over the natural resources and jurisdiction of particular issues. Simultaneously, the living space of the principle of the high seas freedom has been smaller, and the freedom of other states in this area has been restricted. However, UNCLOS is a kind of compromise of the debate between the coastal States and the traditional maritime power. The provisions are misty on the sensitive issues. There are even no relevant provisions on some issues, including the military activities in the exclusive economic zone. According to UNCLOS, other states enjoy limited freedom in this area. So the question is whether this kind of freedom includes the right of taking military activities in the exclusive economic zone of the coastal states. What kinds of rules should other states obey in this area? Unfortunately, there are only some general regulations in UNCLOS. And there is no relevant interpretation to some key issues about this problem. For example, what is the exact meaning of the military activity? Does the freedom of navigation and overflight include such kind of activities of warships or military aircrafts? What does other internationally lawful use of the sea include according to UNCLOS? What does the principle of peaceful uses of the sea mean? What kind of rules does other states should obey under the due regard obligation? The vagueness of the rules not only causes controversy on this issue, but also causes conflicts in practice.This article will research the existing rules of international law and the law of the sea, and also combine with relevant legal principles to demonstrate whether other states have the right to take the military activities in the exclusive economic zone of the coastal State. Before the demonstration, this article will clarify the meaning and the content of the military activity, and summarize the type of the military activity. This article classifies the military activities as the movement military activities and the operational military activities. It also distinguishes military survey and maritime scientific research. Then this article demonstrates the regime of the military activities in the exclusive economic zone under the present legal system. In this part, this article discusses the rules, principles and obligation other states should obey first. Then we will discuss the legality of these two kind of military activities as demonstrated above. If it is legal, what kind of other international rules should the states obey on that basis? As demonstrated above, it is obvious that the vagueness of the rules cause the chaos in practice. And it is necessary to perfect this regime by modification of the UNCLOS or by other means. What should the international society do besides defining the key issues? The UNCLOS doesn’t stipulate the distribution of the right of taking military activities. However it authorizes the coastal States to regulate the military activities indeed. It is to say, coastal states not only have economic rights, but also have secure interests in this area. Exclusive economic zone is essential to the coastal States both on the economic interest, but also on the national security interest. The exclusive economic zone should be the exclusive security zone in the future.