June 1, 2020
His Excellency António Guterres
Secretary-General
United Nations
New York, New York, 10017
Excellency:
I have the honor to convey a letter to you regarding Note Verbale No. CML/14/2019 sent by the Permanent Mission of the People’s Republic of China to you on December 12, 2019 in response to the submission by Malaysia to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS) dated December 12, 2019. The United States rejects these maritime claims as inconsistent with international law as reflected in the 1982 Law of the Sea Convention. I request that you circulate the enclosed letter to all UN Member States as a document of the General Assembly under Agenda Item 74(a) and of the Security Council, and that you post it on the web page of the Office of Legal Affairs, Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea.
Please accept, Excellency, the renewed assurances of my highest consideration.
Sincerely,
Kelly Craft
Ambassador
United States Representative to the United Nations
Enclosure:
As stated.
June 1, 2020 His Excellency António Guterres
Secretary-General United Nations New York, New York, 10017
Excellency:
I have honor to refer to the Note Verbale No. CML/14/2019 sent by the Permanent Mission of the People’s Republic of China to you on December 12, 2019 in response to the submission by Malaysia to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS) dated December 12, 2019. The present communication concerns only the views expressed by China regarding its maritime claims in the South China Sea and does not comment on Malaysia’s submission to the CLCS. As China’s note asserts excessive maritime claims that are inconsistent with the international law of the sea as reflected in the 1982 Law of the Sea Convention (hereinafter “the Convention”), and as those claims purport to unlawfully interfere with the rights and freedoms enjoyed by the United States and all other States, the United States considers it essential to reiterate its formal protests of these unlawful assertions and describe the relevant international law of the sea as reflected in the Convention.
In its note, China makes the following assertions:
• China has sovereignty over Nanhai Zhudao, consisting of Dongsha Qundao, Xisha Qundao, Zhongsha Qundao and Nansha Qundao;
• China has internal waters, territorial sea and contiguous zone, based on Nanhai Zhudao;
• China has exclusive economic zone and continental shelf, based on Nanhai Zhudao;
• China has historic rights in the South China Sea.
China made similar assertions immediately following the July 12, 2016 award in The South China Sea Arbitration (The Republic of the Philippines v. The People’s Republic of China) issued by an arbitral tribunal constituted under Part XV of the Convention (hereinafter “the Tribunal”). The United States objected to those assertions in a demarche and note verbale on December 28, 2016 (enclosed).
The United States reiterates its prior objections to China’s maritime claims.
Specifically, the United States objects to China’s claim to “historic rights” in the South China Sea to the extent that claim exceeds the maritime entitlements that China could assert consistent with international law as reflected in the Convention. The United States notes in this regard that the Tribunal unanimously concluded in its ruling—which is final and binding on China and the Philippines under Article 296 of the Convention—that China’s claim to historic rights is incompatible with the Convention to the extent it exceeds the limits of China’s possible maritime zones as specifically provided for in the Convention.
Additionally, the United States reiterates its prior objections to any claim of internal waters between the dispersed islands China claims in the South China Sea, and to any claim of maritime zones derived from treating island groups in the South China Sea as a collective. The Convention clearly and comprehensively regulates the circumstances under which coastal States can deviate from the normal baseline. Article of the Convention provides, in express and unambiguous terms, that the normal baseline applies “except where otherwise provided in this Convention.” No provision of the Convention establishes an applicable exception to the normal baseline that would allow China to enclose within a system of straight or archipelagic baselines the dispersed islands and other features over which China asserts sovereignty in the South China Sea. Moreover, the United States objects to any claimed maritime entitlements based on features that are not islands within the meaning of Article 121(1) of the Convention and thus do not generate maritime zones of their own under international law. China may not assert sovereignty over, or claim maritime zones derived from, entirely submerged features like Macclesfield Bank or James Shoal, or features like Mischief Reef and Second Thomas Shoal, which in their natural state are low-tide elevations that lie beyond a lawfully generated territorial sea entitlement. Such features do not form part of the land territory of a State in a legal sense, meaning that they are not subject to appropriation and cannot generate a territorial sea or other maritime zones under international law. These positions are consistent with the decision of the Tribunal in The South China Sea Arbitration.
In asserting such vast maritime claims in the South China Sea, China purports to restrict the rights and freedoms, including the navigational rights and freedoms, enjoyed by all States. The United States objects to these claims to the extent they exceed the entitlements China could claim under international law as reflected in the Convention. The United States notes that the governments of the Philippines,6 Vietnam,7 and Indonesia8 have separately conveyed their legal objections to the maritime claims set out in China’s Note Verbale No. CML/14/2019. The United States again urges China to conform its maritime claims to international law as reflected in the Convention; to comply with the Tribunal’s July 12, 2016 decision; and to cease its provocative activities in the South China Sea.
I request that you circulate the enclosed letter to all UN Member States as a document of the General Assembly under Agenda Item 74(a) and of the Security Council, and that you post it on the web page of the Office of Legal Affairs, Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea.
Please accept, Excellency, the renewed assurances of my highest consideration.
Sincerely,
Kelly Craft
Ambassador
United States Representative to the United Nations
Source: https://usun.usmission.gov/protesting-chinas-unlawful-maritime-claims-at-the-un/
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