EDITOR’S NOTE

This issue covers discussions on the following topics: disputes in the South China Sea (SCS) between China and the Philippines, the rules of bridging lines for delimitation of the outer limits of the continental shelf, and main disputes in the Korean courts’ judgments of theHebei Spiritoil spill incident.

On 12 July 2016, unilaterally initiated by the Philippines, the arbitral tribunal announced an award regarding the disputes with China in the SCS.Prof. FU Kuen-chen points out that in order to deny the legal status of U-shaped sectioned line and historic rights of China in the SCS, the Tribunal, with no jurisdiction over the case, evaded the special nature of history and geography in the SCS in its ruling and distorted the legal significance of China’s relevant actions, acting as if it is the legitimate text interpreter of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). Firstly, it mistakenly interpreted China’s claims for historic rights in the SCS; then it misinterpreted the source of China’s historic rights in the SCS; finally, there was apparent malice and arbitrariness in the Tribunal’s attitude toward China’s historic rights and interests in the SCS. Prof. FU believes the absurd “mosquito logic” of the award causes havoc to international rule of law.

Regarding the disputes in the SCS, Dr. JIANG Wei shares her insights of the fisheries conflicts between China and the Philippines in the SCS disputed waters. Since fisheries disputes involved sovereignty over the disputed waters and jurisdiction over the relevant areas, the parties to the dispute may end up having political and legal conflicts while trying to settle the dispute. Through detailed analyses of the case of the 1997People of the Philippines v. Chia Say Chaw, et al., the 2013Guang Da Xing No. 28 incident, and the case involvingQiong Qionghai 09063fishing boat in 2014, Dr. JIANG states the two sides should learn from aforementioned cases, strengthen cooperation in various fields, and coordinate differences to promote the settlement of fisheries disputes in disputed waters.

In addition, Ms. WANG Danwei focuses on a difficult point in determining the outer limits of the continental shelf - the application of the rules of bridginglines. Since Article 76 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea only requires the length of the line without mentioning the connection method or the order, coastal States often make use of its ambiguity to demarcate their continental shelf beyond a reasonable range, and sometimes even invade the international seabed area. Ms. WANG comprehensively analyzes the submissions made by many States and a set of bridging methods summarized by the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf. She suggests that the study of rules of bridging lines is of both theoretical and practical importance.

Last but not least, this issue includes Dr. HAO Huijuan’s profound discussion on the main disputes in the Korean courts’ judgments of theHebei Spiritoil spill incident, which is by far the worst oil spill in Korean history.The issues involved in the trial process are related to the different provisions stipulated by the Korean oil pollution damage compensation law and the International Convention on the Establishment of an International Fund for Compensation for Oil Pollution Damage, along with the controversies concerning limitation of liability of shipowners, limit of liability, scope of compensation, etc. In view of the amendment to the Maritime Law of the People’s Republic of China, her paper aims to cast some light on relevant topics by analyzing these disputes.

COLR Editorial

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