International law

China’s new map depicting its claims to the South China Sea has provoked some fierce reactions from its neighbours. The fact is that the “new” map is anything but.

Lianhe Zaobao journalist Tai Hing Shing looks at the recent issuance of Interpol “red notices” by the Hong Kong government on eight pro-democracy activists living overseas, and what the move signals.

Philippine academic Renato Cruz De Castro discusses the prospect of a trilateral Japan-US-Philippines defence pact and the US's building of informal trilateral networks in the Asia Pacific to safeguard its interests against China. However, he notes that there are practical issues to be resolved before a formal agreement can materialise.

US-China tensions have heightened in the aftermath of the Chinese balloon incident. The Republicans are seizing the opportunity to criticise the Biden administration over the threat to national security, while China accuses the US of overreacting and violating the spirit of international law and international practice. Zaobao correspondent Yang Danxu notes that if the situation is not managed properly, the strained relations could have an impact on other issues, such as the South China Sea.

China’s ratification of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) not only helped Beijing to adapt to contemporary global ocean governance, but also reinforced the importance for China to develop a maritime strategy to safeguard its maritime rights and interests. For instance despite China’s rejection of the 2016 arbitral tribunal ruling of the Philippines’ case against China in the case of the South China Sea, it still refers to UNCLOS (rather than simply dismisses it) to explain its decision. It can be expected that UNCLOS can be a tool of political contestation in the great power competition between Beijing and Washington.

Chinese academic Deng Xize notes that the Mongol and Russian empires were very similar in origin and nature, but the conditions that allowed their rise and spread no longer exist today, leading to their inevitable decline. The global reaction to the war in Ukraine in fact shows that such empires will no longer be tolerated.

China has recently begun a campaign to say that the Taiwan Strait cannot be considered “international waters” based on the UNCLOS. Zaobao’s associate editor Han Yong Hong sees this as Beijing's way to assert its jurisdiction over the Taiwan Strait and that it is ready to boost and expand its scope of military actions over the area.

Hong Kong businessman and political figure Lew Mon-hung notes that China used to have a strong sense of right and wrong, with values of righteousness and morality. However, looking at China’s reaction to the war in Ukraine, it seems that these values have been abandoned. And this can only lead to a shift in the progress that China has made over the past 40 years.

Researcher Chen Hongbin says that Japan's reason for opposing cross-strait reunification, that China could sever Japanese maritime oil routes by firing from eastern Taiwan, is unfounded. China already has the capability to attack Japan's oil tankers anyway, even without reunification; but most importantly, any maritime security issue in the vicinity would pose a greater threat to China.