Why to forget unclos

Win or lose, any ruling has tremendous implications for the future of international law. Second, international law has indeed become a weapon of the weak — look at other cases by Reichler and his firm in particular. And still more. The author seems convinced China will lose in the cased filed by the Philippines. The penalty or award, if any and if ignored by China, will only multiply the weight of the public shaming China will suffer for all its violations in the West Philippine Sea. International Law, all said and done, is weak due to lack of an enforcement mechanism.

Isolation, pressure and other sanctions may work on smaller nations, not on the P-5, Germany and Japan. China will not ignore a negative PCA ruling.

Instead she will jointly file with Taiwan ROC immediately to take the focus away from the ruling and the international community will now focus on the root of the problem which is the illegal occupation of the Spratlys by Vietnam, Philippines, Malaysia. Trespassers like France cannot pass title to Vietnam.

She is not a permanent country there with historical title to lay claim and pass title along to another country. Most people forget that it is not about who owns these islands that is at stake but who owns the body of water that surrounds these islands. Now the economic repercussion is tremendous for PH if the PH wins this ruling and even looses all its islands it currently occupies.

Notify of. Soronel Haetir. Jill Goldenziel. In his statement this week, Secretary Pompeo explicitly aligned the U. On one hand, the U. On the other hand, the U. This is despite efforts on the part of the Executive branch for multiple past administrations.

A wide-ranging and diverse coalition of U. In truth, this is an unsatisfactory state of affairs. The United States remains a junior-varsity member of the international law of the sea team, unable to fully participate in its adjudicatory bodies. China, in turn, is quick to remind the United States of its non-party status and continues to aggressively build infrastructure in the South China Sea.

Low tide elevations and rocks—which have limited maritime economic rights—transform to islands with China asserting a new territorial sea and exclusive economic zone. And so it goes. Raw power supplants the international rule of law. Longstanding U.

Indeed, the Philippines recently sought to reassess this treaty in the face of Chinese expansion. In sum, there is a high-stakes standstill in the South China Sea. The U. These excessive maritime claims are antithetical to core law-of-the-sea navigational provisions, maritime delineations, and sovereignty claims. China brushes aside any such criticism, noting the U.

Earlier this month, a U. While it remains to be seen how this traffic safety law will be implemented, it is inconsistent with core navigational principles codified in UNCLOS. James Stavridis and Elliot Ackerman. Indeed, while the United States was fighting wars in the Middle East, China developed the largest navy in the world by size, with a force of ships and submarines the U.

In accompanying U. Climate change. The United States has rejoined the Paris Climate Accord, but there is now a convergence of unresolved maritime and climate governance issues where U.

Consider the Arctic, a region that is warming at two to three times the rate of the rest of the planet, opening up trade routes and the possibility for natural resource extraction. Not surprisingly, they have all made continental shelf submissions. By some estimates, the extended U. As the United States sits on the sidelines, Russia can rejoice at the unforced error and the resulting inability of the United States to avail itself of the Continental Shelf Commission.

In addition, climate change is raising a host of emerging questions that strike at the core of maritime governance.