South China Sea
(asked on 5th May 2020) - View Source
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the government of (1) Vietnam, (2) The Philippines, (3) Malaysia, (4) Indonesia, (5) Brunei, and (6) other nations, about the government of China’s territorial claims in the South China Sea.
Answered by
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The position of Her Majesty's Government is to oppose any activity which raises tensions or seeks to alter the facts on the ground in the South China Sea. We take no position on sovereignty disputes in the South China Sea and encourage all parties to settle their disputes peacefully through the existing legal mechanisms, including the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). We have frequent discussions with Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei and several other nations on the South China Sea, including as part of high-level political dialogues. Officials have raised our concerns about recent incidents in the South China Sea, including the creation of new administrative territories, with Chinese authorities.
China is a party to UNCLOS and ratified it in 1996. The UK challenges China where their interpretation differs from ours. For example, the UK has objected to China's claims based on "historic rights" in the South China Seas on the basis that such claims are not founded in law, insofar as it would be inconsistent with international law as reflected in UNCLOS.
The UK's position with regard to the classification of maritime features is that States may classify as islands those features which meet the definition of islands in Article 121(1) of UNCLOS. The UK's position is also that, as provided in Article 121(3) of UNCLOS, rocks which cannot sustain human habitation or economic life of their own shall have no exclusive economic zone or continental shelf. In addition, the UK's position is that under UNCLOS, low tide elevations which are situated beyond the breadth of the territorial sea from the mainland or an island, are not entitled to a territorial sea, and cannot be appropriated by any State.