China International Studies (English)
Zheng Lei
is a lecturer at the International Shipping Law School, East China University of Political Science and Law.
1 The Arctic Marine Shipping Assessment 2009 Report by the Arctic Council indicates that the Arctic sea ice is melting at an accelerated rate. At the earliest, the Arctic Passage may be ice free in the summer before 2040. See Arctic Council, “Arctic Marine Shipping Assessment 2009 Report,” p.30, https://oaarchive.arcticcouncil.org/handle/11374/54.
2 Jia Guide and Shi Wuhong, “On China’s Participation in Arctic Governance under New Circumstance,” Global Review, Issue 4, 2014, pp.6-8; Liu Huirong and Li Haomei, “The Value and Significance of Arctic Sea Routes: an Analysis in the Context of the Strategy of One Belt and One Road,” Chinese Journal of Maritime Law, Issue 2, 2015, pp. 4-6.
3 Wu Jun and Wu Leizhao, “China’s Rights and Interests in the Arctic Ocean,” Wuhan University Journal
(Philosophy & Social Sciences), Issue 3, 2014, p.53.
4 Leonid Timtchenko, “The Russian Arctic Sectoral Concept: Past and Present,” Arctic, Vol.50, No.1 (March 1997), p.30.
5 Donald R. Rothwell, “The Canadian-u.s. Northwest Passage Dispute a Reassessment,” Cornell
International Law Journal, Vol.26, 1993, p.336.
6 Ibid.
7 Michael Byers and Suzanne Lalonde, “Who Controls the Northwest Passage?” Vanderbilt Journal of
Transnational Law, Vol.42, 2009, p.1147.
8 Ibid., p.1148.
9 Guo Peiqing and Guan Qinglei, “Analysis on Russia’s Control of the Northern Sea Route,” Journal of
Ocean University of China (Social Science Edition), Issue 2, 2010, p.7.
10 Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, “Law on the State Boundary of the U.S.S.R,” International Legal
Materials, Vol.22, 1983, p.1056.
11 Federal Act on the internal maritime waters, territorial sea and contiguous zone of the Russian Federation, 1998, Article 1, HTTP://WWW.UN.ORG/DEPTS/LOS/LEGISLATIONANDTREATIES/PDFFILES/ RUS_1998_ACT_TS.PDF.
12 Guo Peiqing, et al., Research of International Affairs on Arctic Routes, Ocean Press, 2009, p.221.
13 “Who Controls the Northwest Passage?” p.1153.
14 Donat Pharand, Canada’s Arctic Waters in International Law, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
1988, p.176.
15 “The Canadian-u.s. Northwest Passage Dispute a Reassessment,” p.340.
16 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, Article 7. See the full text of the Convention at http://www.un.org/depts/los/convention_agreements/texts/unclos/unclos_e.pdf.
17 Wang Zelin, Studies of Legal Status of Arctic Passage, Shanghai Jiao Tong University Press, 2014, p.232.
18 Federal Act on the internal maritime waters, territorial sea and contiguous zone of the Russian Federation, 1998, Article 4.
19 In May, 1985, the United States informed informally the Canadian government that the American icebreaker Polar Sea would transit through the Northwest Passage. Meanwhile, the US government invited the Canadian Coast Guard law enforcement personnel to participate in the transit “in their personal capacities,” emphasizing that “this transit does not indicate the US government thinks it has the accountability to seek the prior transit permission from the Canadian government, nor does it require prior notification to Canadian government.” Finally, Polar Sea completed its proposed voyage in the company of two Canadian Coast Guard officers. The Polar Sea incident evoked severe responses from the Canadian public and the media criticized the weakness and incapability of the Canadian government.
20 Robert Jennings and Arthur Watts, eds., Oppenheim’s International Law (Vol. I, Book II), translated by Wang Tieya, et al., China Encyclopedia Press, 1998, p.78.
21 Ibid., pp.74-77.
22 P. Whitney Lackenbauer and Peter Kikkert, “The Dog in the Manger—and Letting Sleeping Dogs Lie: The United States, Canada and the Sector Principle, 1924–1955,” in Suzanne Lalonde and Ted L. Mcdorman, International Law and Politics of the Arctic Ocean: Essays in Honor of Donat Pharand, Leidon, Boston: Brill Nijhoff, 2015, p.217.
23 International Court of Justice, Fisheries Case (United Kingdom v. Norway), Judgment of December 18, 1951, p.130.
24 The Secretariat of the United Nations, “Juridical Regime of Historic Waters, Including Historic Bays,” Document A/CN.4/143, 1962, pp.13-20, http://legal.un.org/ilc/documentation/english/a_cn4_143.pdf.
25 Research of International Affairs on Arctic Routes, pp.132-140. 26 Canada’s Arctic Waters in International Law, pp.136-137.
27 Ibid., pp.175-177.
28 International Court of Justice, The Corfu Channel Case, Judgment of April 9, 1949, p.49.
29 Ibid., p.28.
30 Studies of Legal Status of Arctic Passage, pp.131 & 138.
31 “Cargo Transit via Russian Arctic Northern Sea Route at New Record High in 2013,” April 16, 2014, http://www.platts.com/latest-news/shipping/moscow/cargo-transit-via-russian-arctic-northern-sea21493836. 32 Studies of Legal Status of Arctic Passage, pp.120-124.
33 Paul Andrew Kettunen, “The Status of the Northwest Passage under International Law,” Detroit
College of Law Review, Winter, 1990, p.982.