IN STERN MESSAGE TO CHINA, INDIA BACKS PRIMACY OF INTERNATIONAL LAW
keeping their focus on. That China claims sovereignty on virtually all South China Sea (SCS) islands and their adjacent water is something that the world community cannot accept. In violation of international law, China continues to regulate military activity in the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) where it is allowed to carry out only economic activities.
A few years ago, a UN tribunal concluded China violated United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) for operating within the Philippines’ EEZ, interfering with fishing and petroleum activity, constructing artificial features, and conducting law enforcement activity that led to nearcollisions at sea. The Land Borders Law enacted by Beijing is another example of how an increasingly aggressive China is using domestic law to justify its agenda of expansionism, the diplomat says. Moreover, China’s Coast Guard Law does not go down well with countries like Japan, the United States, the Philippines and Vietnam. These countries say that the law clearly violates the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. It is aimed basically at expediting China’s maritime militarisation, say sources. This is how China goes on violating international laws on the pretext of implementing its domestic laws.
“That is where India and for that matter the entire global community need to counter China. The US should give fillip to its campaign to rein in China in the backdrop of all this,” an official said. All the forums and meetings should be used to at least send a message pertaining to what China is doing, he added. “This is what Jaishankar did during the RIC interaction when he stressed the need to respect international law,” a diplomat pointed out. UN Convention on the Law of the Sea or UNCLOS is the legal framework applicable to activities in oceans, including countering illicit activities at sea. While addressing the UNSC some time back, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had also underlined the need to resolve the maritime disputes peacefully in accordance with international law. It was seen as PM Modi’s signal to China vis-àvis its belligerence.