Revisiting Ocean Boundary Disputes in the South Pacific in Light of the South China Sea Arbitration: A Legal Perspective

Song, Lili and Mosses, Morsen (2018) Revisiting Ocean Boundary Disputes in the South Pacific in Light of the South China Sea Arbitration: A Legal Perspective. International Journal of Marine and Coastal Law, 33 (4). pp. 1-23. ISSN 1571-8085

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Abstract

This article examines three ocean boundary disputes in the South Pacific in light
of the South China Sea arbitration. First, we consider whether the Matthew and
Hunter Islands, over which France and Vanuatu have made competing claims,
are full-fledged islands or rocks and argue that they are likely to be rocks. Second,
we discuss the dispute between Fiji and Tonga over the Minerva Reefs.
Based on public information that generally suggests the Minerva Reefs are lowtide
elevations, we submit that Tonga’s historic claim to the maritime area
around the Minerva Reefs is inconsistent with the principle of ‘the land dominates
the sea’. Third, we examine Tonga’s historic claim to the maritime area
within a rectangle boundary defined in Tonga’s 1887 Royal Proclamation and
submit that the main difficulty for Tonga to establish such claim is to prove that
it has effectively exercised sovereignty over the relevant area.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Subjects:	K Law > K Law (General)
Divisions:	Faculty of Arts, Law and Education (FALE) > School of Law
Depositing User:	Lili Song
Date Deposited:	01 May 2018 02:26
Last Modified:	19 Mar 2019 02:47
URI:	https://repository.usp.ac.fj/id/eprint/10683

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