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Vice Foreign Minister Xie Feng: All Parties Should Accurately Interpret and Apply UNCLOS in Its Entirety and in Good Faith

2022-09-02 22:50

On September 1, 2022, Vice Foreign Minister Xie Feng made a keynote report at “UNCLOS at 40: Retrospect and Prospect”, an international conference marking the 40th anniversary of the opening for the signature of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). He said that at present, global transformation unseen in a century is evolving at an accelerated pace, and new global maritime issues keep emerging. We must accurately interpret and apply UNCLOS in its entirety and in good faith, oppose the distortion and abuse of UNCLOS, reject the practice of double standards, and discard the mindset of “might is right”. We should strengthen international cooperation, balance marine environmental protection and utilization, and take credible steps to raise developing countries’ ability to learn about, utilize and protect the sea and participate in global maritime governance.

Xie Feng said that we need to faithfully uphold the purposes and principles of UNCLOS. UNCLOS gives due regard for the sovereignty of all States and aims to promote the peaceful uses of the seas and oceans and realize a just and equitable international economic order. UNCLOS has established important principles including peaceful uses of the seas, freedom of the high seas and the international seabed as the common heritage of mankind. All parties should follow the purposes and principles of UNCLOS, fulfill their obligations under the Convention in good faith, reject the law of the jungle at sea, and oppose the attempt to threaten other countries’ sovereignty and security by using the sea.

Xie Feng stressed that we need to strictly abide by the regime on navigation stipulated in UNCLOS. According to UNCLOS, foreign ships enjoy innocent passage in the territorial sea, but such passage shall not be prejudicial to the peace, good order or security of the coastal State. They enjoy freedom of navigation in the exclusive economic zone, but shall have due regard to the coastal State’s sovereign rights and jurisdiction over natural resources. All parties enjoy freedom of navigation in the high seas, but must comply with such requirements as “the high seas shall be reserved for peaceful purposes”. All parties should fully abide by the provisions of UNCLOS in letter and spirit. Even if one is not a State Party to UNCLOS, it should not underscore only their navigation rights while ignoring the legitimate rights and interests of coastal States. There have never been navigation problems in the sea areas under China’s jurisdiction. The attempts to misinterpret the regime on sea areas established by UNCLOS and play up the so-called freedom of navigation issues are driven purely by ill intentions. China always actively guarantees and safeguards the navigation rights of all countries according to international law, but firmly opposes certain country’s move to threaten China's sovereignty and security in the name of freedom of navigation.

Xie Feng also pointed out that we need to accurately apply the dispute settlement mechanism of UNCLOS in good faith. The parties to a dispute are the owners of the dispute settlement procedures. Only when the procedures are approved and accepted by the parties concerned, can they be truly effective in settling the dispute. All parties concerned and international institutions should honor the principle of State consent, act in line with the realities of the dispute among regional countries, accurately apply the dispute settlement procedures in good faith, and must not overstep or abuse their mandate. China always maintains that maritime disputes should be resolved through negotiation and consultation between countries directly concerned. By not accepting or recognizing the so-called award of the South China Sea arbitration, China aims to uphold the authority and integrity of UNCLOS.

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