The Issues On Principles Of Boundary Demarcation Of Exclusive Economic Zone Between China And South Korea

In the Yellow sea and northern East China sea, the claims on exclusive economic zone and continental shelf overlap between China and South Koreas, and the dispute has not been truly solved for many years. The fishery resources are rich and fishing is active here,while the two countries signed the temporary fisheries agreement in accordance with the spirit of United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, the limited validity of the agreement and the fuzziness of its content made the disputes between China and South Korea which were caused by cross-border fishing happen frequently,and the bloodshed has not been relieved substantially. The underlying reason is the lack of clear dividing sea border between the two countries, and the ambiguity of distribution of interests and responsibilities.Formal demarcation in the exclusive economic zone between China and South Korea is imminent.In July 2014, Xi Jinping made an agreement with South Korea’s President, Park Geun-hye,during the Presidents’ visit.The two sides announced that the two countries will officially start the maritime delimitation talks in 2015. On December 22 nd, 2015, vice foreign ministers of the two countries held talks for the first time. And the second round of talks will be held in China in 2016. For the demarcation problem it is an important step. The two sides agreed that delimitation problem should be resolved by friendly consultation, but seen in previous messages, there are still several differences between the demarcation principles held by China and South Korea.Based on the above background and the practice significance of the selected topic, this article embarked from the theory of international convention and international customary law on the basis of the coastal landscape features, combined with the international cases, academic point of view, the standpoint of the international court of justice and the arbitration tribunal,carried on the analysis of the demarcation principle problems involed in the demarcation of exclusive economic zones of China and South Korea.This article is divided into four chapters.The first chapter is mainly about the frequently happened fishery disputes between China and South Korea in recent years and the defects of the bilateral fisheries agreement, expounds the urgency of EEZ demarcation, embodies the practical significance of this paper, and looks forward to the future when the dispute of demarcation will has been settled.The second chapter outlined the delimitation principles of the exclusive economic zone. Among them:The first and second section illustrates the origin of the exclusive economic zone and its legal status.The third section is an overview of the delimitation of the EEZ and continental shelf system appeared in different times, there are both connection and difference between the two concepts in practice.Apart from a few examples, most countries tend to apply the same line in the delimitation,which means the single dilimitation method.The fourth section is the comprehensive sorting of various delimitation principles and methods in theory and practice. Natural extension principle is the basic foundation of continental shelf rights, and also is one of the reference standards of demarcation, its theoretical basis lies in "land control sea"; however, in practice, the influence of this principle is weakened in the delimitation, there may be some effect in determining the boundary of continental shelf just 200 nautical miles outside from the the baselines of the territorial sea. The principle of Equidistant Midline, whose exact expression should be “equidistant median line- special case rules", was first established by Convention on the Continental Shelf, but according to the rules of the convention, its is not a universal principle of demarcation.There are conditions for it to be applied as a preliminary rule,actually in many cases a preliminary approach is more efficient, but it doesn’t mean that it’ll be preferred forcibly. Maybe there is some misunderstanding on this point. Fair principle first appeared in Truman Proclamation, and was established afterward by the United Nations convention on the law of the sea.It is a basic principle of marine delimitation which is clearly acknowledged by international law and customary law. It is important to note that the "fair" here refers to the fairness in the sense of results, rather than simply being interpreted as "average division". And because of the individual difference from each other, there is not any universal and automatically applicable demarcation method. So it depends on the specific case, and refers to various factors.The most reasonable demarcation method should be chosen, so as to achieve justice. The principle of proximity is contrary to the principle of Natural Prolongation,and it has not been generally accepted neither in theory or in practice. Proportion inspection rule, is not a principles trictly, but simply a method of inspection testing that whether the fair results have been achieved. The factors of inspection includes whether the coastline length is proportional to the sea area, the coastal population,the existence and effectiveness of islands, and so on.All of these may be taken as the basis of adjustment and correction of the border. But for inspection rules, there is still some controversy.The third chapter is the conflict on the delimitation of the EEZ between China and South Korea. Firstly it is the analysis of the natural features of disputed waters between China and South Korea,including whether the single demarcation theory can be applied and whether the disputed waters can be directly demarcated by an equidistance line. China and South Korea belong to a common continental shelf and their coasts are relative to each other, no obvious cracked geographical fracture between coast, and relative distance is less than 400 nm, which the single demarcation theory can be applied. The coastline length of Chinese side is significantly longer than South Korea, it’s not fair to demarcate by equidistance line directly. China’s attitude is very clear on this point, the demarcation should be in accordance with fair principle,be under the premise of standard of distance, and all relevant factors should be considered for flexible adjustment. And South Korea claims the division with equidistant median line, but it also agree with the major premise of fair principle. In South Korea there are also some voices different from the official point of view.The article also took some international cases on delimitation of the EEZ and continental shelf for reference. After outlines the mechanism of international maritime demarcation dispute settlement, the paper focus on analysis in Tunisia vs. Libyan case, the reason is that this case is similar to the one between China and South Korea, whose reference significance is greater. International court of justice affirmed the natural prolongation principle and fair principle in his ruling, and cited the proportion inspection rules, endued the kerner island partial effect in the demarcation, considered four demarcation methods, including the equidistant median line, and eventually the disputed waters was divided into two parts, and different demarcation methods were applied.It can be extended to the role of the Suyan rock in the demarcation.Suyan rock is an underwater reef,which doesn’t possess island’s territory status, therefore it should not obtain corresponding exclusive economic zone and continental shelf, also should not produce any real impact to the demarcation.The last chapter is conclusion. It summarized the first three chapters, and came to that the demarcation between China and South Korea might involve the interests of Japan in the north of east China sea. Two kinds of methods was mentioned which take the profit of third countries into consideration.Finally, the article gives the author’s view and outlook for the future.China and South Korea geographically belongs to a common continental shelf and are towards each other. In the disputed yellow sea and northern east China sea, the distance of coasts is between 104 nm to 300 nm, where can the single demarcation theory be applied.It means that the exclusive economic zone and continental shelf can be divided by a common line. According to the UN convention on the law of the sea, the fair principle should be the basic principle in maritime demarcation, and the "fair" here refers to the result of fair, itself, rather than a "fair" way, so it can’t simply understood as partition with the equidistance line in the middle. Suyan rock(Leo-do reef) is a reef actually,it does not possess territorial status and should not possess corresponding exclusive economic zone and continental shelf, should not affect the demarcation results. Due to the distance between the coast which is less than 400 nm, natural prolongation principle will play a weak role in the delimitation.Equidistant median line should be applied as a conditionally applicable demarcation method, rather than absolute demarcation principle, it can be applied as the basis of creating temporary boundary in initial stage of demarcation. After delimiting the temporary line, generalized proportion inspection rules should be taken for consideration, combined with the coast’s length and the effect of these islands,to achieve the fair demarcation line with flexible adjustment eventually.In conclusion, official talks between China and South Korea have been launched, this is of significance to maintain China’s Marine interests and the friendship between the two countries.On the premise of good political basis, the two sides should uphold friendly negotiating attitude, fulfill the rights and obligations which were endued by the United Nations convention on the law of the sea, give consideration to both efficiency and fairness, to draw up a sea border which conforms to the objective facts and the spirit of justice.