The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), which is at the heart of the South China Sea issue, took effect for China on July 7, 1996.
The agreement is a crucial achievement of nearly a decade of negotiations of the 3rd United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS III). It not only fully compiled customary international law on maritime law, but also developed new institutions on maritime law and established new maritime order.
The convention plays an important role in safeguarding the legitimate rights and interests of developing countries and promoting common development of oceans for all countries.
China has provided powerful support for the establishment of a fair and rational maritime order expected by developing countries and made contribution for the formulation of the convention.
In particular, the convention does not involve the issue of territorial sovereignty. In terms of maritime delimitation, the convention allows contracting parties to exclude compulsive settlement procedures for disputes such as cases applicable to compulsive arbitration.
In as early as 2006, China made it clear in a statement that it will exclude compulsive settlement procedures for disputes when it comes to issues such as maritime delimitation. More than 30 countries have made similar statements.
These statements constitute an indispensable part of the settlement procedures for disputes of the convention and are of legal effect to all contracting parties.
The United States, instead of ratifying the convention, formulated the Freedom of Navigation Plan in 2006 prior to the signing of the convention, a move intended to defy international law so that it can establish and dominate a U.S.-led maritime order outside the framework of the convention.
