Study On Japan's Maritime Rights And Interests Safeguard Mechanism

In 2008,the Basic Law of the Sea,based on which a series of policies and regulations aiming to safeguard marine rights and interests are established,was released in Japan.By setting up new departments and releasing new marine policies and regulations,the Japanese government has established the safeguard mechanism for marine rights and interests.The mechanism was first applied to Takeshima dispute.Takeshima is an island lying between Japan and South Korea.Since 1953,the two countries have been disputing for the sovereignty of the island.The Japanese government designed the new Takeshima policy based on the safeguard mechanism,thus causing new change in the Takeshima dispute.Under this background,this paper will research the Japanese safeguard mechanism for marine rights and interests by choosing the Takeshima policy which was adopted by the Japanese government from2005 to 2018 as an example.In 2005,the Shimane parliament passed the bill for Takeshima Day,leading to the strong opposition from South Korea.The status of Takeshima which had been maintained by the two countries since 1965 was broken.As a result,the governments of the two countries came into conflict with each other about the Takeshima issue.The negative and slack policies related to Takeshima left Japan at a disadvantage rapidly,which also makes the Japanese government realize the importance of building unified and complete marine policies.The year of 2018 marks the change of the marine basic plan.The safeguard mechanism for marine rights and interests which is based on the marine basic plan has gained rich experience in practice.The choice of this period will make it easier to observe the effect of the marine rights and interests safeguard mechanism on the dispute.Firstly,determining the essence of the Japanese marine rights and interests as well as its safeguard mechanism is a prediction for analyzing the Takeshima policy during this period.After understanding the internal structure and functions of the decision-making and executing departments,the researcher should analyze the main policies implemented by the decision-making department.After understanding the components of the Japanese marine rights and interests safeguard mechanism,the researcher should define the relevant concepts.Secondly,observing how to apply the Japanese marine rights and interests safeguard mechanism to solving the Takeshima dispute between Japan and South Korea is the key to analyzing Japan's Takeshima policy.Aftergaining a general idea of the Takeshima dispute from 2005 to 2018,the researcher should analyze the policies relevant to the Takeshima dispute which are implemented by the decision-making department responsible for the marine rights and interests safeguard mechanism,based on which the action taken by the executing department of the marine rights and interests safeguard mechanism will be also researched.Lastly,the performance of the marine rights and interests safeguard mechanism and its influence on the Takeshima policy will be also evaluated and analyzed.After evaluating the policies implemented by the decision-making department and the action taken by the executing department responsible for the marine rights and interests safeguard mechanism,the researcher analyzes the influence of the mechanism on the South Korea-Japan relationship and Diaoyu Island dispute.Although the application of Japanese marine rights and interests safeguard mechanism to the Takeshima policy can help the Japanese government respond to the dispute more rapidly and also strengthen Japan's protection of marine rights and interests,it also enhances the actual control of South Korea over the sea area around Takeshima and brings more uncertainties to the South Korea-Japan relationship.In addition,the new marine policy based on the Japanese marine rights and interests safeguard mechanism has also made the island dispute between Japan and neighboring countries more complicated.The Chinese government should be wary of the Japanese government utilizing the marine rights and interests safeguard mechanism to encroach on the sovereignty of Diaoyu Island.The key to preventing the Japanese government from using the marine rights and interests safeguard mechanism to infringe on China's marine rights and interests is to accelerate the establishment of China's basic law of the sea as well as provide the powerful legal guarantee for the Chinese government to protect its national marine rights and interests.