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Thayer Consultancy

ABN # 65 648 097 123

Background Brief: South China Sea: Hainan Provinces New Regulations for the Territorial Sea Carlyle A. Thayer November 29, 2012

[client name deleted] The Global Times just announced that Chinese police will board and search ships which enter into what China considers its territorial waters in the South China Sea. Can you comment on this development? Why do you think the Chinese keep acting aggressively like that? ANSWER: The decision to accost foreign vessels in China's territorial sea was made by provincial authorities in Hainan province and appears to cover the 12 nautical mile territorial sea around Hainan and perhaps the Paracel Islands. China, as a signatory to UNCLOS, must observe the right of innocent passage as specified in international law. This declaration represents more rhetoric rather than a change in policy. it is another reassertion of China's jurisdiction to support it claims to "indisputable sovereignty." Each action taken by China must be judged on its merits. If China extends its actions beyond Hainan Island to include the Spratly Islands this would be a more provocative and aggressive action at odds with the spirit of the Declaration on Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea. Chinese actions appear to be result of competing local authorities each seeking to out do the other in "defending China's sovereignty." If foreign vessels violate the right of innocent passage China has the right to take appropriate action. The key here is that China is testing policy on one area that could be extended to another area of the East and South China Seas. Finally, these actions could also be viewed as trying to entrench current Chinese policy and present President Xi Jinping with a fair accompli.

Suggested citation: Carlyle A. Thayer, South China Sea: Hainan Provinces New Regulations for the Territorial Sea, Thayer Consultancy Background Brief, November 29, 2012.

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