China’s Maritime Silk Road Initiative and the Protection of Underwater Cultural Heritage

2017 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 510-543 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ran Guo
Keyword(s):  
South China Sea ◽  
Cultural Heritage ◽  
Legal Framework ◽  
Silk Road ◽  
Underwater Cultural Heritage ◽  
Basic Principles ◽  
International Protection ◽  
Joint Development ◽  
Maritime Silk Road ◽  
International Obligations

Abstract China’s 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road Initiative urges the protection of underwater cultural heritage on the Maritime Silk Road, which demands China’s effort as much as that of international community. The Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage (unesco Convention) provides an international legal framework for China to protect underwater cultural heritage and facilitate cooperation with other State Parties. China’s concerns over ratifying the unesco Convention mainly relate to its jurisdiction, ownership and international obligations on the issue, which can be solved with the basic principles and a revision of Chinese laws. China’s ratification will ensure the international protection of underwater cultural heritage on the Maritime Silk Road; and more importantly, it will provide an opportunity for the joint development in the South China Sea, thus breaking the bottleneck of the Maritime Silk Road Initiative. Therefore, China should ratify the unesco Convention.

Maritime Claims and Underwater Archaeology: When History Meets Politics

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 1-131
Author(s):  
Mariano J. Aznar
Keyword(s):  
South China Sea ◽  
Cultural Heritage ◽  
International Law ◽  
South China ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Underwater Archaeology ◽  
Underwater Cultural Heritage ◽  
Archaeological Heritage ◽  
Territorial Claims ◽  
Legal And Ethical Issues

Abstract Among other circumstances relevant to maritime delimitations, some States have recently used the protection of underwater cultural heritage (UCH) as grounds for advancing jurisdictional or sovereignty claims over different maritime areas. After identifying the contours of current international law governing that heritage, this book critically addresses: first, the generally limited use of archaeological heritage in territorial claims; second, the broad acceptance by States of ‘archaeological maritime zones’ that overlap with declared contiguous zones; and, third, the (mis)use of UCH and underwater archaeology in three still disputed maritime claims, namely, Canada’s claim in Arctic waters, China’s in the South China Sea, and Russia’s in Crimea and its surrounding waters. Legal and ethical issues related to underwater archaeology are also discussed.

Part II Substantive Aspects, Ch.13 Underwater Cultural Heritage

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
O’Keefe Patrick J
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Heritage ◽  
Legal System ◽  
Legal Framework ◽  
Underwater Cultural Heritage ◽  
Unesco Convention ◽  
Time Capsule ◽  
International Legal System ◽  
A Site

This chapter focuses on underwater cultural heritage. This form of heritage is important because it constitutes what has been called a ‘time capsule’—meaning everything on a site may well be as it was when it disappeared beneath the water’s surface. It may be the wreck of a ship, the remains of a town, or a prehistoric settlement where land has subsided. There is general agreement that what remains is important to humanity. As such, protection and preservation of the underwater cultural heritage is a significant objective of the international legal system. The UNESCO Convention of 2001 is illustrative of this. However, the Convention exists within the international political and legal framework. In negotiating it, States were constrained by what they felt this framework required. Many were prepared to be generous in how they interpreted those requirements—others not so. The result is a complex agreement requiring care in implementation.

scholarly journals Island territorial disputes and China’s ‘Shelving Disputes and Pursuing Joint Development’ policy

2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 37-54
Author(s):  
Tao Yu ◽  
Bingyao Li
Keyword(s):  
South China Sea ◽  
Development Policy ◽  
Territorial Disputes ◽  
The East China Sea ◽  
Zero Sum Games ◽  
Joint Development ◽  
China Sea ◽  
Maritime Silk Road ◽  
Chinese Scholars ◽  
Zero Sum

‘Shelving Disputes and Pursuing Joint Development’ (SDPJD) has for decades been China’s premier policy for resolving territorial disputes, especially those regarding islands. SDPJD is, however, commonly understood to be tripartite policy, in which ‘shelving disputes’ and ‘pursuing joint development’ are made conditional upon the principle of ‘sovereignty belongs to China’. Although SDPJD aims to peacefully settle China’s island territorial disputes in the East China Sea (Diaoyu Islands) and the South China Sea (Spratly Islands), the policy has not been particularly successful in practice. This is in part because, whereas ‘shelving disputes’ and ‘pursuing joint development’ are cooperative in nature, ‘sovereignty belongs to China’ is inherently confrontational. The prominence granted to ‘sovereignty belongs to China’ is linked to outmoded understanding of the concept of sovereignty and the tendency for Chinese scholars and officials to regard island territorial disputes as the zero-sum games. This paper argues that SDPJD’s success is dependent upon separating ‘sovereignty belongs to China’ from ‘shelving disputes’ and ‘pursuing joint development’ and perhaps abandoning the former principle entirely. China should pursue non-confrontation resolution to island territorial pursuits, especially in the contexts of efforts to develop a peaceful and cooperative 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road.

Underwater cultural heritage and the disputed South China Sea

2020 ◽  
Vol 34 (3) ◽  
pp. 361-382 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hui Zhong
Keyword(s):  
South China Sea ◽  
Cultural Heritage ◽  
South China ◽  
Maritime Archaeology ◽  
Underwater Cultural Heritage ◽  
China Sea ◽  
The Face ◽  
Heritage Protection ◽  
Natural Result

Due to unsolved maritime delimitations, the protection of underwater cultural heritage (hereafter underwater heritage) in the South China Sea demands coordinated action by neighbouring states. However, the suspicion that China uses underwater heritage to justify its interests has tempered the general enthusiasm of its neighbours to cooperate in the issue of heritage protection. In the face of such concerns, this article examines the role of underwater heritage in China’s South China Sea claims, and it argues that underwater heritage provides little support to underpin China’s territorial or maritime claims. In addition, China’s initiatives in maritime archaeology have long been misinterpreted. Instead of being entirely driven by its South China Sea claims, China’s approach to underwater heritage is a natural result of its general policy on cultural heritage and nation-building philosophy.

The 2001 UNESCO Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage and Its Principles Relating to the Recovery and Disposition of Material from Shipwrecks

2020 ◽  
pp. 293-314
Author(s):  
Sarah Dromgoole
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Heritage ◽  
Marine Environment ◽  
Underwater Cultural Heritage ◽  
Basic Principles ◽  
Main Text ◽  
2001 Unesco Convention ◽  
Unesco Convention ◽  
Scope Of Application ◽  
Potential Impact ◽  
Prevalent Form

The 2001 UNESCO Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage is designed to regulate activities directed at heritage assets located in the marine environment. Basic principles and objectives are enunciated in the main text of the treaty and ‘Rules’ setting out internationally accepted archaeological standards are enshrined in the treaty’s Annex. Section I of this chapter summarizes the background to the Convention and its material scope of application before going on to outline its provisions with respect to the recovery and disposition of heritage assets that fall within its scope. Section II draws attention to certain problems that may arise when these provisions are applied to the most prevalent form of underwater cultural heritage: shipwrecks. In the concluding section, some explanation is given for why these issues are not properly catered for by the Convention and some consideration given to their potential impact in the future.

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