China’s Rights in the Marine Arctic

• Published in: The International Journal of Marine and Coastal Law
• Main Author: Gayazova, Olya
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: Brill 2013
• Subjects: Law; Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law; General Environmental Science; Geography, Planning and Development; Oceanography; Arctic; Arctic Council; Law of the Sea
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/15718085-12341264; https://brill.com/view/journals/estu/28/1/article-p61_3.xml; https://brill.com/downloadpdf/journals/estu/28/1/article-p61_3.xml

Abstract The new Arctic Council observer guidelines specify that in determining the suitability of applicants for observer status, their recognition of Arctic states’ sovereignty, sovereign rights and jurisdiction in the Arctic will be noted. The People’s Republic of China (PRC) is one of the applicants for Arctic Council observer status and maintains that it respects the rights of Arctic states and has its own rights in the region. In this article, two questions are examined: first, whether the PRC’s policy steps in the Arctic have been within the scope of the rights of non-Arctic states in the region under the Law of the Sea, and second, the degree to which China’s rights in the marine Arctic may be limited by its legislative policies in its coastal waters.