Guest post written by
C.H. Tung
The following is an abbreviated speech originally delivered at the International Law Colloquium on Maritime Disputes Settlement on July 15, 2016.
A discussion on International Maritime Dispute Settlement in today’s environment will inevitably involve the South China Sea and this week’s Permanent Court of Arbitration ruling at The Hague. In order to more thoroughly understand China’s objectives with the Spratlys, one must first understand China’s strategic priorities as she progresses toward eventually joining the ranks of developed nations.
China’s very recent history of nation building began on the 1st of October, 1949, with the formal establishment of the People’s Republic of China. At that time, the country was bankrupt. Only very rudimentary infrastructure, housing, schools and health care facilities were available. Following years of chaos, civil war, and Japanese invasion and occupation, the country suffered enormously from the destruction. But 1949 was a turning point in China’s history, for the fractious country was at last in peace and was at last united, and proper nation building could begin. Even so, it was Mr. Deng Xiaoping’s decision in 1978 to launch the policy of reform and opening up, that began the crucial step towards the country’s modernization.
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[The views of Anders Corr, FORBES Contributor, on the issue can be found here.]
The result of this modernization drive is truly astonishing, highlighted by the fact that more than 600 million people have been lifted out of poverty. Never before in the history of mankind, has so much been achieved for so many people in such a short period of time.
During the last 100 years of the Qing Dynasty, China lost one-third of its territory to foreign powers. Territorial integrity is an emotional and sensitive issue to the Chinese people.
Despite enormous difficulties to solve remaining territorial disputes, China is determined to continue to pursue these discussions peacefully. The Spratlys is no exception. Since the 1970s, China has urged restraint, and began bilateral negotiations with claimants of the Spratlys. Unfortunately, there has been no tangible progress in those negotiations. Instead, the Vietnamese actively and aggressively took over many of these features in the Spratlys. The Philippines has also done the same. Today, of all the features in the Spratlys, Vietnam occupies 29, the Philippines occupies 8, China has 9, and there are still others occupied by additional countries. As a result, increased tension has ensued.
Today, there are allegations that China does not adhere to international legal norms on the settlement of sovereignty disputes in the South China Sea. This is not the case. It is not commonly known, for instance, that the UNCLOS successfully produced an agreement only after nine years of marathon discussions and negotiations. The stalemate was broken partly because the Convention provided the parties with an option to make an exception in cases concerning maritime boundary delimitation. In addition to China, three other UN Security Council permanent members, Britain, France and Russia, as well as nine OECD countries, have taken the option. Indeed, in total, over thirty countries have [The views of Tim Daiss, FORBES Contributor, on the issue can be found here.]
Further, on 25 August 2006, China made another declaration, under Article 298 of the Convention, that any maritime boundary delimitation issues are excluded from the jurisdiction of any dispute resolution mechanism under the Convention.
There is another reason why China refused to participate. In 2002, because of intensive efforts of ASEAN countries and China, a Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea was agreed, promoting bilateral negotiation among the disputing nations over sovereignty issues, and calling for the freedom of navigation in the South China Sea for all nations of the world in accordance with UNCLOS. China believes that this process, although at times fraught with difficulty, continues to be the best way to resolve the dispute. To have attended the arbitration proceedings at The Hague would undermine a process that has long been in place to resolve the dispute in a bilateral and peaceful manner.
Furthermore, UNCLOS rules clearly provide that, until the bilateral discussions have been exhausted, a country should not approach the Permanent Court of Arbitration to adjudicate border disputes.
For the above reasons, China declined to attend the arbitration proceedings, and for obvious reasons rejected the ruling of the tribunal that was made on 12 July.
We do not need unnecessary geopolitical tension in the region. The world has not completely recovered from the global financial crisis of 2008. The only area that holds promise for global growth and stability is in the vast Asia Pacific region, where the GDP of ASEAN and China are both expected to double over the next 10 years. The growth of the ASEAN and Chinese economies will not only be beneficial to the countries in this part of the world, but also will impact the whole of the Asia Pacific Region and the world at large.
The United States can also play a positive role at this moment. The best way to demonstrate this is for the United States to persuade the Philippine government to positively engage with the Chinese government on resolving the territorial dispute.
A healthy China-US relationship is important to the economies of the two nations and to the world at large. It is also important for peace and prosperity all around the world. At this time, protecting China-US relations must be a priority for all of us.
Resolving territorial disputes between any two nations is never easy, but by working together, building trust and friendship, developing mutually beneficial economic activities in the meantime, we can find a way to move forward.
Mr Tung Chee Hwa is the Vice Chairman of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, People’s Republic of China. He is the Founding Chairman of the China-United States Exchange Foundation and Our Hong Kong Foundation. Prior to these appointments, Mr Tung served as First Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (“HKSAR”) from July 1997 to March 2005. As the First Chief Executive of HKSAR, Mr Tung presided in the historical return of Hong Kong to China and successfully turned the “One Country Two Systems” and “Hong Kong people governing Hong Kong” with “high degree of autonomy” from a concept into an everyday reality.