Legal Analysis Of The Delimitation Of The Continental Shelf In The East China Sea Between China And Japan

With the development of economy,an increasing number of countries have listed the exploitation of marine resources into their national development strategies,and focus on the exploitation and utilization of marine activities by forward-looking approach,so as to seek their own maritime rights and interests to the greatest extent.The East China Sea is vast and rich in natural resources as well as oil and gas resources.Particularly,the oil and gas reserves near the Diaoyu Islands are expected to become the second Middle East.When Japan found that Chunxiao oil field on the west side of the "middle line" advocated by it had huge economic interests,it touched the sensitive nerve of Japan to seize the resources of the East China Sea with China,which intensified the competition between Japan and China for the ownership of the continental shelf of the East China Sea.The reasonable settlement of the East China Sea issue not only directly affects China’s surrounding security situation,but also has an important influence on China’s exploitation of marine seabed resources,which is related to China’s economic growth prospects and sustainable development.At present,the primary problem facing the settlement of the delimitation of the continental shelf in the East China Sea between China and Japan is to clarify the right basis of the continental shelf.It is necessary to discuss the specific delimitation rules only when the legal systems based on the right basis of the two sides can compete with each other at the legal level.The Law of Sea Convention is a law that is applied for the delimitation of the continental shelf in the East China Sea between China and Japan,After it defines the distance standard as the basic factor of the continental shelf,the natural extension and the distance standard jointly become the right basis of the continental shelf,China and Japan can choose their own favorable viewpoints to claim their rights on the continental shelf.With the principle of fairness,the delimitation of the continental shelf should actively delimit the boundary of the continental shelf through agreement.Firstly,from the perspective of oil and gas resources and strategic interests,this thesis discusses the causes of the dispute between China and Japan on the delimitation of the continental shelf in the East China Sea,and points out that the substantive problem behind the dispute lies in the differences between China and Japan on the right basis of the continental shelf.Secondly,it puts forward that the delimitation of the continental shelf should follow the delimitation order of "confirming the right first and then distributing",and introduces the power basis and delimitation rules stipulated by the Law of Sea Convention.Thirdly,it alalyzes the classic cases of continental shelf delimitation in different periods of the law of the sea,and summarizes the development direction of maritime delimitation,which provides strong underpinning for the arguments proposed by China and Japan in the dispute the delimitation of continental shelf in the East China sea in the following analysis.Fourthly,this thesis,from the perspective of international law,analyzes the claims of China and Japan in the delimitation to demonstrates the rationality of China’s views and the inappropriateness of Japan’s claims,respectively.Finally,it provides the alternative paths for China to resolve the disputes over the delimitation of the continental shelf in the East China Sea,and take a clear stand for China on the different paths.While the properly resolving the dispute between China and Japan over the delimitation of the continental shelf in the East China Sea,China should consider its own national interests ans strive for the maritime rights and interests to the maximum extent.