China,Vietnam, and the South China Sea: Disputes and Dispute Management

This article examines recent developments in the South China Sea; in particular, the China-Vietnam relationship. The developments are presented in the broader context of the Sino-Vietnamese approach to managing border disputes since full normalization of relations in late 1991. The challenges for China and Vietnam in managing their disputes and related tension in the South China Sea are also discussed.     

南海北部白姑鱼生长和死亡参数的估算

将南海北部白姑鱼分成南海北部大陆架和北部湾两个不同海域群体,根据20世纪60年代和90年代在南海北部底拖网渔业资源调查资料,利用ELEFAN技术估算了南海北部白姑鱼的生长和死亡参数.结果表明,北部湾和陆架区的生长参数L_∞、K、t₀分别为382mm、0.42、-0.16龄和315mm、0.35、-0.23龄.体重生长拐点年龄t_r分别为244和287龄;瞬时总死亡率(Z)、自然死亡率(MF)分别为3.55、0.93、2.62和3.12、0.85、2.27;当前开发率为074和073,资源处于过度利用状态.根据BevertonHolt动态综合模型,建议北部湾和陆架区白姑鱼的最适开捕年龄应大于190和195龄,相应的开捕体长大于2.11和168mm.     

China's U-Shaped Line in the South China Sea Revisited

Despite its existence on the Chinese maps for more than six decades, the U-shaped line, as a traditional maritime boundary line of China in the South China Sea, has never received a wide recognition in the world community, much less by the other claimant states in the South China Sea. The U-shaped line is a legal conundrum not only for China but also for the world community, particularly after the map with the U-shaped line, together with China's Notes Verbale with respect to the claims to the outer continental shelves made by Malaysia and Vietnam, were submitted to the UN Commission on the Limits of Continental Shelf in May 2009. This article discusses China's recent practice relating to the U-shaped line as well as the external factors that affect the validity of the line and tries to unravel the legal puzzle posed by the line.     

南海永兴岛的壁虎,兼记二新记录种

2017年12月对南海永兴岛的爬行动物进行了短期调查,发现3种壁虎科Gekkonidae动物,分别是截趾虎Gehyra mutilata、原尾蜥虎Hemidactylus bowringii和疣尾蜥虎H.frenatus。其中,截趾虎和原尾蜥虎为中国南海岛屿的新记录。     

Due Diligence and Overlooked Evidence in the South China Sea Arbitration: A Note

Abstract

In the South China Sea Arbitration, the Tribunal decided that China had not breached the due diligence obligation to protect and preserve the marine environment under Articles 192 and 194(5) of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea concerning Chinese fishers fishing with explosives, but that China had breached the same obligation regarding Chinese fishers harvesting endangered species. This article looks at how the Tribunal interpreted and applied the due diligence obligation and argues, from a Chinese perspective, that there were facts overlooked by the Tribunal that China could have presented to counter the evidence of the Philippines, which might have been enough to affect the decision on destructive fishing had China participated in the Arbitration.     

基于耳石微结构的南海春季鸢乌贼日龄、生长与种群结构的研究

2015年春季在南海开展灯光罩网渔船鸢乌贼(Sthenoteuthis oualaniensis)采样, 样品胴长为10.22—199.01 mm, 体质量为1.3—328.8 g。研究根据鸢乌贼耳石微结构对其日龄、生长和种群结构进行研究, 结果显示:南海存在2个鸢乌贼群体, 中型群体(有发光器, 占59.38%)和微型群体(无发光器, 占40.62%), 无胴长大于500 mm的大型群体; 样品日龄范围为38—126d, 优势日龄组为51—80d, 占其总数的81.33%。分别计算不同海域和群体间5种生长模型的AIC权重值, 发现南海北部海域和南沙附近海域都以指数生长模型最适合描述鸢乌贼的生长关系, 中型群体以指数模型最为适合, 微型群体则以幂函数生长模型最适合; 南海北部海域的鸢乌贼个体生长速率略低于南沙附近海域鸢乌贼个体; 微型群体呈现急剧生长到逐渐缓慢生长的趋势, 中型群体的生长趋势与微型群体正好相反。同类相食现象表明微型群体的生长受到中型群体的影响而被抑制。     

The 2002 Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea: A Note

In November 2002 the ASEAN states and the People's Republic of China agreed upon a Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea. This note, a follow-up to the author's article, "Vietnam and the Code of Conduct for the South China Sea" (Ocean Development & International Law, Vol. 32, pp. 105-130 (2000)), briefly describes the contents and importance of the 2002 Declaration.­     

A Code of Conduct for Human and Regional Security Around the South China Sea

In the past decade, there have been calls for a regional code of conduct for the South China Sea to ensure peace and stability in a region replete with conflicting territorial claims over offshore geographical features. This paper will distinguish between the process of codification of rules and principles in one document, on the one hand, and the process of implementing existing rules and principles, on the other hand. It will be argued that rules and principles governing conduct for human and regional security around the South China Sea already exist in many forms and that the South China Sea states are obligated by international law to implement them without waiting for their consolidation in one document.     

Population Structure and Genetic Variability of Six Bar Wrasse (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Thallasoma hardwicki</Emphasis>) in Northern South China Sea Revealed by Mitochondrial Control Region Sequences

The genetic relationships among northern South China Sea populations of the six bar wrasse (Thallasoma hardwicki) were investigated. Fish collected from the Solomon Islands were used for geographic comparison. In 1998 and 1999, a total of 100 fish were sampled from 6 localities of the northern South China Sea and 3 localities of the Solomon Islands. Genetic variations in DNA sequences were examined from the first hypervariable region (HVR-1) of the mitochondrial control region, as amplified by polymerase chain reaction. High levels of haplotypic diversity (h = 0.944 ± 0.0016, = 0.0224 ± 0.01171) in the HVR-1 region of the mitochondrial control region of T. hardwicki were detected. This yielded 94 haplotypes that exhibited a minimum spanning tree with a starburst structure, suggestive of a very recent origin for most haplotypes. Neutrality tests indicated that the pattern of genetic variability in T. hardwicki is consistent either with genetic hitchhiking by an advantageous mutation or with population expansion. Partitioning populations into coherent geographic groups divided the northern South China Sea samples (_CT = 0.0313, P < 0.001) into 3 major groups: a north-central group composed of northwestern Taiwan and northern Vietnam; a southwestern group containing southern Vietnam; and a southern group including the central Philippines. These results are in concordance with mesoscale boundaries proposed by allozyme markers, thus highlighting the importance of identifying transboundary units for the conservation and management of fisheries in the South China Sea.     

再议中国近海小黄鱼种群的划分问题

以往认为,中国近海小黄鱼可划分为3个种群.本研究从地理隔离、数量动态、形态解剖,分子遗传学和海洋水文等不同方面,重新审视了我国近海小黄鱼（Larimichthys polyactis Bleeker）种群的划分问题.研究表明：中国近海小黄鱼仅仅存在两个种群,即黄海南部和东海小黄鱼种群及渤海和黄海北部小黄鱼种群.主要证据有三：其一,分析1965年至今小黄鱼不同种群形态解剖学和分子遗传学重要文献,发现这些文献的结果仅仅支持黄海南部和东海小黄鱼是一个种群的结论;其二,依据1971-1982年我国10多个主要渔业公司小黄鱼捕捞统计资料,黄海南部和东海的小黄鱼在地理分布上几乎不存在隔离的现象.在冬季外海,黄海南部和东海小黄鱼栖息于同一个越冬场.进入春季后,它们从该越冬场分别向舟山渔场、鱼山渔场和吕泗渔场产卵洄游.同时,东海南部近海越冬场的小黄鱼向北作产卵洄游,在舟山渔场汇入外海来的小黄鱼鱼群中.从5-8月,黄海南部至东海仅存在一个小黄鱼索饵群体.而黄海北部和渤海小黄鱼群体与上述群体存在明显的地理隔离;其三,黄海南部和东海,近年来小黄鱼产量增长趋势一致,而同期的渤海和黄海北部小黄鱼资源量恢复不大.     

Implications of Exclusive Economic Zone Management and Regional Cooperation Between South Pacific Small Midocean Island Commonwealth Territories

The South China Sea has long been regarded as a major source of tension and instability in Pacific Asia. Since 1990, many bilateral and multilateral efforts to manage the possible conflicts in the region have been recorded. The purpose of this article is to analyze and assess the progress made in terms of conflict management among the claimants.     

Vietnam and the Code of Conduct for the South China Sea

This article portrays and characterizes the Vietnamese position toward the settlement of the island disputes in the South China Sea. The situation in the South China Sea has become more complicated since 1988 when China made its steps toward the Spratlys. After analyzing the situation in the South China Sea, the author emphasizes the need to have a code of conduct for this disputed area.     

Setting Up International (Adversary) Regimes in the South China Sea: Analyzing the Obstacles from a Chinese Perspective

If the sovereignty issue can be shelved, solved, or resolved, the six claimant states of the South China Sea will have to establish a series of international regimes. The following questions need to be answered: Do all the claimants understand the concept of international regimes? Would the regimes be imposed? Would there be hegemon(s) in the South China Sea? If so, which country or multiple entities will be involved? What would be the outcome of having international regimes in the South China Sea? Can the experience elsewhere be applied to the South China Sea?     

Conservation of reef corals in the South China Sea based on species and evolutionary diversity

The South China Sea in the Central Indo-Pacific is a large semi-enclosed marine region that supports an extraordinary diversity of coral reef organisms (including stony corals), which varies spatially across the region. While one-third of the world’s reef corals are known to face heightened extinction risk from global climate and local impacts, prospects for the coral fauna in the South China Sea region amidst these threats remain poorly understood. In this study, we analyse coral species richness, rarity, and phylogenetic diversity among 16 reef areas in the region to estimate changes in species and evolutionary diversity during projected anthropogenic extinctions. Our results show that richness, rarity, and phylogenetic diversity differ considerably among reef areas in the region, and that their outcomes following projected extinctions cannot be predicted by species diversity alone. Although relative rarity and threat levels are high in species-rich areas such as West Malaysia and the Philippines, areas with fewer species such as northern Vietnam and Paracel Islands stand to lose disproportionately large amounts of phylogenetic diversity. Our study quantifies various biodiversity components of each reef area to inform conservation planners and better direct sparse resources to areas where they are needed most. It also provides a critical biological foundation for targeting reefs that should be included in a regional network of marine protected areas in the South China Sea.     

Assessing the risk of alternative management strategies in a Mediterranean fishery: protecting the younger vs reducing fishing effort

A stochastic age-structured population model was developed to explore biologically favourable levels of effort and closing periods within the sardine pelagic fishery in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Results suggested that the developed age-structured model captured the observed biomass fluctuations and catches reasonably well and represents the first comprehensive investigation of alternative management strategies for eastern Mediterranean sardine fishery that include stochasticity. The present study provided direct evidence for the importance of the correct timing of the temporal fishing ban. Significant benefits were found both in terms of biomass and catch from a corrective shift in the fishing closed period. The current findings suggested that protecting the younger age groups from fishing in the period October–December, by shifting the ban period earlier than December may profit, biologically, the stock and economically the fishing sector. Progressive reductions in fishing mortality/effort also yield significant positive biological and fishery benefits in the short term.     

中国沿海海鞘的物种多样性

至今,中国海已经记录了66种海鞘。其中,渤海有5种,黄海21种,东海24种,南海53种。种类分布从北往南逐渐递增,柄瘤海鞘在黄海、渤海数量很大(8100个/m²),但往南分布,未发现超过罗源湾。皱瘤海鞘在南海数量很大(2225个/m²),往北也未发现超过罗源湾。玻璃海鞘和乳突皮海鞘在全国沿海都有分布。     

中国海域长额虾科和长臂虾科隐虾亚科种类记述(甲壳动物,十足目,真虾下目)

记述采于南海北部的长额虾科3属8种,作为Liand Komai(2003)记述1958-1960年全国海洋综合调查采于南海北部的长额虾总科2科8属20种的补充,同时记述该调查中采于东海的长臂虾科隐虾亚科的2属2种.8个长额虾科种是在中国科学院海洋生物标本馆新馆搬家过程中新发现标本鉴定得来,即Chlorotocella gracilis,Plesionika izumiae,P longidactylus,P.ortmanni,P.pumila,P.sindoi,P.unidens,Procletes levicarina.其中Li and Komai(2003)描述的新种P.longidactylus又发现5只携卵雌虾,证明此种在南海并不少见;P.unidens是深海种类,目前仅发现分布在200m以深海底,虽然其报道很少,但已有记录却来自从孟加拉湾至巴布亚新几内亚的不同海域,说明其分布较广,在Li and Komai(2003)文中没有记述此种,本文首次记录其在中国水域的分布,并提供特征图.隐虾亚科的两个种,即富兰克林副岩虾Paraclimenes franklini(Bruce,1990)和土佐岩虾Periclimenes tosaensis Kubo,1951均为东海海域的新纪录,将富兰克林副岩虾的已知分布区域向北扩展到北纬28°,同时填补了土佐岩虾在日本海域和南海海域之间的分布空白.     

Historic Titles and Historic Rights in the Law of the Sea in the Light of the South China Sea Arbitration

Historic titles and historic rights have been a complicated issue in the law of the sea both conceptually and practically. The South China Sea Arbitration between the Philippines and China raised important issues regarding the contemporary relevance and validity of historic claims, and the relationship between the Law of the Sea Convention and historic rights. This articles examines historic rights and historic titles in the law of the sea in the light of the South China Sea Arbitration and evaluates the contribution of the Tribunal's Awards to the clarification of these concepts.     

Gurnards of the Genus Pterygotrigla (Triglidae) of Nha Trang Bay and Adjacent Waters (Vietnam,South China Sea)

Journal of Ichthyology - An overview of the species of gurnards of the genus Pterygotrigla, found in Nha Trang Bay and the adjacent water area of the South China Sea (south of Central Vietnam) has...