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A Study of Taiwan's Response Mechanism in Legal Disputes Involving the South China Sea
Date:2022-10-28
Unit:Department of Planning

 On January 12, 2022, the U.S. Department of State released the “Limits in the Seas No. 150: People's Republic of China: Maritime Claims in the South China Sea.” The report, which is 47 pages long. It is a response to the expansive maritime claims of the People's Republic of China in the South China Sea and asserts that China’s claims do not conform to the international law as set forth in the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). In July 2016, following the announcement of the South China Sea Arbitration Tribunal’s ruling, the United States formally rejected Beijing's claims and criticized Beijing's policy of not respecting the results of the ruling. Earlier, the U.S. Department of State published Limits in the Seas 43 (LIS No. 43) in 1972 and proposed Limits in the Seas 117 (LIS No. 117) in 1996, questioning China's maritime claims in the South China Sea based on straight baselines. However, the U.S. was not directly involved in the South China Sea dispute at that time. The Limits in the Seas No. 143, released in 2014 amidst the proceedings of the South China Sea Arbitration, made clear the U.S. position on China's assertion of historical rights and maritime claims in the South China Sea, and was intended to influence the then-ongoing South China Sea Arbitration. In 2018, the PRC government presented an overall critique of the findings of the arbitration award, refuting various international arguments against China's assertion of its sovereignty over the South China Sea. In 2022, the United States again released the “Limits in the Seas No. 150: People's Republic of China: Maritime Claims in the South China Sea” (LIS No. 150), echoing the contents of the award in the South China Sea Arbitration case and directly rejecting China's asserted rights in the South China Sea, especially refuting China’s arbitrary drawing of straight baselines that enclose the islands, waters and submerged features over certain island groups in the Spratly Islands. From the U.S. point of view, this is a strategic necessity within the special geopolitical context of U.S.-China competition, initiating a legal war in the South China Sea and emphasizing the need to safeguard the rules-based international order.

  However, the contents of LIS No. 150 directly affect our nation’s traditional fishing rights in the South China Sea, and our right to delineate the 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone and the continental shelf. This involves the application of the relevant international law, customary international law on the regulation of historical rights and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the South China Sea, as well as the ASEAN countries' agreement on the South China Sea dispute and the 2002 Declaration on The Conduct of Parties in The South China Sea between China and ASEAN countries. The purpose of this study is to investigate the debate on the legal regulation of the South China Sea as a whole as a result of LIS No. 150, as well as the onset of a new wave of legal disputes on the South China Sea. At the same time, this study also examines the inadequacy of Taiwan’s current policies and the need for improvement, and conducts a study of our domestic and foreign response mechanisms, and proposes countermeasures or amendments to the law to help protect our national interests.

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  • Update: 2023-04-10
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