九個虛線內：菲律賓去上告，越南有聲明，北京仍不理

【Comment】

How is it possible for a dash-line on the map to enclose and protect any territorial and maritime rights of a nation?  

What laws can the “intruders” break, if they enter the said area in-between the dashes?

The so-called nine-dash-line, which was created arbitrarily by an ROC officer in December 5th, 1946, has now become a solid excuse for PRC to claim her so-called maritime territory on South China Sea.    revised at 2140

菲律賓為黃岩島主權提請國際法庭仲裁，中國不理。

中國回覆的期限到12月15日為止。

期間，國際法庭請越南提供意見。12月5日越南提出聲明。

九段線這虛線，算什麼權利呢？任何一方從空隙處進入虛線內，違什麼法？

中華民國的心虛，變成中華人民共和國無中生有的籌碼。

越南籲國際法庭關注其權益○中央社 (2014.12.12) http://www.cna.com.tw/news/aopl/201412120005-1.aspx

（中央社河內11日電）針對國際海洋法庭仲裁中國大陸與菲律賓在南海爭端案，越南當局今天發表聲明，呼籲國際海洋法庭關注越南的正當合法權益。

越南外交部今天下午在河內市召開每月例行記者會，外交部發言人黎海平（Le Hai Binh）在會中回覆記者有關越南對中國大陸就菲律賓所提南海仲裁案管轄權問題發表立場文件有何觀點的提問時，作出以上表示。

黎海平說，「為保護越南在東海（即南海）上的正當權益，越南已經向國際海洋法庭表達自己對該訴訟案的觀點，並建議國際海洋法庭關注越南的正當合法權益」。

他強調，越南擁有足夠的法律及歷史依據可證明對西沙和南沙群島（越稱黃沙與長沙）擁有主權，以及對南海上專屬經濟區和大陸架擁有符合國際法的主權權利和管轄權。

他說，越南的一貫立場是堅決駁斥中國大陸對西沙與南沙兩個群島及附近海域以及中方單方面對「九段線」內水、海域和海底所提出的主權聲索。

菲律賓2013年1月22日單方面就中菲有關南海問題提起強制仲裁。中國大陸外交部7日發表文件，質疑位於荷蘭海牙的常設仲裁法院，對菲律賓單方面提起的南海糾紛仲裁案沒有管轄權，重申大陸不接受、不參與這起仲裁案的立場。1031211

Vietnam Launches Legal Challenge Against China’s South China Sea Claims○The Diplomat (2014.12.12) http://thediplomat.com/2014/12/vietnam-launches-legal-challenge-against-chinas-south-china-sea-claims/

Vietnam lodges a submission at The Hague and rejects Chinese position paper on the South China Sea.

Vietnam and China moved their saber-rattling over the South China Sea into the legal arena this week as Hanoi lodged a submission with an arbitral tribunal at The Hague and rejected a Chinese position paper.  Beijing swiftly dismissed Vietnam’s challenge.

In a statement on Thursday, the Vietnamese foreign ministry rejected China’s December 7 position paper, which laid out Beijing’s legal objections to an arbitration case that the Philippines had filed against it.

“Vietnam’s established position is to resolutely object to China’s claims over Hoang Sa, Truong Sa islands and adjacent waters,” Vietnamese foreign ministry spokesman Le Hai Binh said, using the Vietnamese names for the Paracel and Spratly Islands.

Binh also suggested that Hanoi had sent a statement to the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) at The Hague, which is currently examining the Philippines’ case against China over the South China Sea disputes.

According to the South China Morning Post, Vietnam’s statement to the PCA, submitted last Friday, made three main claims in opposition to China’s stand.  First, it recognized the court’s jurisdiction over the case submitted by the Philippines, which Beijing does not.  Second, it requested that the court give “due regard” to Vietnam’s own legal rights and interests in the Spratlys, Paracels, and in its exclusive economic zone and continental shelf while deliberating on the case.  Third and lastly, it rejected China’s infamous nine-dash line – which lays claim to about 90 percent of the South China Sea – as being “without legal basis.”

Hanoi’s actions are part of a concerted effort to respond to China’s growing assertiveness in the South China Sea, which has continued in 2014.  In May, a Chinese state-owned oil company dispatched a deep sea drilling rig off the coast of Vietnam in disputed waters south of the Paracel Islands, which led to deadly boat clashes and anti-Chinese violence and plunged diplomatic relations to an all-time low.  In response, Vietnamese prime minister Nguyen Tan Dung had said that Hanoi was “considering various actions, including legal actions in accordance with international law.”

By lodging a statement with the court – as opposed to directly joining the Philippines in its case – Vietnam has found a way to make its views heard but not alienate Beijing, which has warned Hanoi against joining Manila’s legal challenge. Beyond the legal realm, Vietnam has also taken a number of other actions, including slowly moving towards closer ties with the United States – made easier by the partial lifting of a U.S. lethal weapons embargo – and making its first-ever port call to the Philippines last month.

Predictably, China dismissed Vietnam’s sovereignty claims in its foreign ministry statement, labeling them “illegal and invalid” and emphasizing that “China will never accept such a claim.”

“China urges Vietnam to earnestly respect our territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and resolve relevant disputes regarding Nansha with China on the basis of respecting historical facts and international law so as to jointly maintain peace and stability on the South China Sea,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Hong Leisaid, using the Chinese name for the Spratly Islands.

The legal tussle between Beijing and Hanoi comes as the December 15 deadline nears for China to submit its defense in the arbitration case brought about by the Philippines.  China is not expected to submit anything in response to the tribunal’s deadline, having already declared in its position paper that it would “neither accept nor participate in the arbitration.”

Two days before China released its position paper, the U.S. State Department published a study that questioned the validity of Beijing’s nine-dash line. China dismissed the study, claiming that it ignored basic facts and legal principles and was unhelpful in resolving the South China Sea issue.