Study On The Legal Status Of Arctic Waterway From The Perspective Of The Law Of The Sea

In recent years,with the acceleration of global warming and the melting of the Arctic Ocean sea ice,the hidden strategic value of the Arctic region is increasingly prominent,and the development and utilization of the Arctic waterway has been closely watched by the international community,especially the shipping powers.However,the legal status of the Arctic waterway has not been solved for a long time.As the actual control country of the Arctic waterway,Russia and Canada argue that the strait of the Arctic waterway is their internal water based on the historic waters and the baseline system.The two countries enjoy exclusive sovereign jurisdiction in the relevant waters.The user countries represented by the United States,based on the international straits system,claim that these straits are straits which are used for international navigation,and the user countries enjoy the right to freedom of navigation granted by the law of the sea.For this reason,the two sides have long been arguing over each other,thus laying a conflicting legal hidden danger for the development and utilization of the Arctic waterway.This paper analyzes the rationality and legality of the internal water claims from the internal perspectives of Russia and Canada,and then analyzes its rationality and legality as straits used for international navigation from the external perspective represented by the United States based on the relevant theories of the law of the sea.Then,the paper puts forward the opinions on the legal status of the waters related to the Arctic waterway,and further explains how China should respond to relevant issues.Specifically,the specific content of this article is as follows:In the first chapter,this paper will introduce the background of the Arctic waterway from its natural geographical conditions to the legal regulation,and raise the question of the legal status of the Arctic waterway in related waters,then point out that the question of the legal status of the Arctic waterway is mainly concerned that whether the related waters in the arctic waterway is internal water or international straits?The second chapter uses the theory of historical waters and baseline system to demonstrate the rationality and legality of the related waters in arctic waterway as internal water advocated by Russia and Canada.The third chapter,combined with regulations for straits which are used for international navigation and the relevant judicial practice standards,analyzes and demonstrates the rationality and legality of the related waters in the arctic waterway as international straits.The fourth chapter further analyzes the conflict and balance between the internal water jurisdiction and the international straits navigation rights,and demonstrates that the navigation rights of the international straits in the system of the sea law will not be excluded by internal water.And the two kind of legal rights are same protected by the law of the sea.On this basis,after analyzing the scholars and official positions of China on the legal status of the Arctic waterway,this paper believes that China should cautiously express its opinions publicly,so as not to incur the hostility of the relevant countries,and on the basis of retaining its own international straits legal position.China should pragmatically participate in the specific development and utilization of the Arctic waterway and the construction of the channel management mechanism.