Law of the Seas

[huy.duong@ctsu.ox.ac.uk]

Cha`o ba'c La^m,

China disputes the demarcation of the Gulf of Tonkin.
Which principle does it want used? Distance from the
mainland mass? Distance from the islands, eg, Chinese Hainan
and Vietnamese Nightingale (Bach Long Vi)? None of those principle
would give China more sea. In fact, both would give China
less.

What China wants is a principle based on distance from
China's islands and Vietnam's mainland.

As for China's claim of the seas around some of the Paracels and Spratleys,
This is like Vietnam using Phu Quoc to claim all the sea off
the entire Cambodian coast, or Britain using the Channel islands to
claim the all the sea off the entire North West French coast, or
France using Corsica to claim the sea off the entire North West
Italian coast, or India using the Adaman & Nicobar islands to claim
the seas off the Burmese and Western Thai coasts, Japan using the Ryukus
to claim the seas off the Chinese and Taiwanese coasts. In fact, since the
the islands from which China makes the claims have only been seized by
force recently by China, it is worse than the above and more like Russia
using the Kuriles to claim the sea off the Japanese coast.

Huy