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.

Ethics, Underwater Cultural Heritage, and International Law

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thijs J. Maarleveld
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Heritage ◽  
International Law ◽  
International Development ◽  
Historical Review ◽  
Maritime Archaeology ◽  
Underwater Cultural Heritage ◽  
Archaeological Heritage ◽  
Maritime Law ◽  
Ethical Discussion

Maritime archaeology has given rise to quite a few issues. The meaning of heritage for the society has undergone changes, and thus, ethical discussion has evolved, which is discussed in this article. Archaeological discourses include a historical review that is helpful in understanding how insights have developed. Archaeology is not uniform and archaeological heritage has been studied through different approaches and thinking. An item attributed heritage value in one part of the continent may not be regarded as the same in another part of the continent. For maritime archaeology, this national bias has been influential in several ways and it continues to be so. The principle that “heritage” is a public matter is quite central in the developing ethics of the archaeological profession. This article finally discusses the international development of a body of maritime law specifically concerning underwater cultural heritage.

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.

Maritime Archaeology and Underwater Cultural Heritage in the Disputed South China Sea

2018 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 375-401 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elena Perez-Alvaro ◽  
Craig Forrest
Keyword(s):  
South China Sea ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Cultural Heritage ◽  
South China ◽  
Maritime Archaeology ◽  
Law Of The Sea ◽  
Underwater Cultural Heritage ◽  
China Sea ◽  
Legal Position ◽  
United Nations Convention

Abstract:China’s broad geopolitical strategy and positioning for global influence includes its averred legal position in relation to its sovereignty and jurisdiction in the South China Sea. A response to this legal position was the Philippines’ initiation of arbitral proceedings constituted under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. Despite the non-participation of China in these proceedings, the arbitral decision of 2016 clarified a number of legal provisions pertinent to the ongoing territorial and maritime disputes in the South China Sea. This decision impacted directly on China’s assertion of sovereign and jurisdictional historical title or rights, which, in part, relies on evidence obtained from underwater cultural heritage and the associated maritime archaeology. This article critically evaluates China’s maritime archaeology program and its policy with respect to underwater cultural heritage in light of the 2016 arbitral decision and the underlying international law of the sea. While recognizing that China’s policy is not inconsistent with its broader heritage policy, and its national approach to the protection of underwater cultural heritage, this article argues that this cannot be used to support China’s South China Sea claims and is not only misplaced, such as to pose a risk to the archaeological record, but also inconstant with international developments in the form of the 2001 United Nations Convention of the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage.

Is International Law International?

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anthea Roberts ◽  
Martti Koskenniemi
Keyword(s):  
South China Sea ◽  
International Law ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
South China ◽  
Visual Representations ◽  
International Lawyer ◽  
Spheres Of Influence ◽  
Diverse Backgrounds ◽  
The World ◽  
Anglo American

Is International Law International? takes the reader on a sweeping tour of the international legal academy to reveal some of the patterns of difference, dominance, and disruption that belie international law’s claim to universality. Both revealing and challenging, confronting and engaging, this book is a must-read for any international lawyer, particularly in a world of shifting geopolitical power. Pulling back the curtain on the “divisible college of international lawyers,” the author shows how international lawyers in different states, regions, and geopolitical groupings are often subject to differences in their incoming influences and outgoing spheres of influence in ways that affect how they understand and approach international law, including with respect to contemporary controversies like Crimea and the South China Sea. Using case studies and visual representations, the author demonstrates how actors and materials from some states and groups have come to dominate certain transnational flows and forums in ways that make them disproportionately influential in constructing the “international”—a point which holds true for Western actors, materials, and approaches in general, and Anglo-American ones in particular. But these patterns are set for disruption. As the world moves past an era of Western dominance and toward greater multipolarity, it is imperative for international lawyers to understand the perspectives of those coming from diverse backgrounds. By taking readers on a comparative tour of different international law academies and textbooks, the author encourages international lawyers to see the world through others’ eyes—an approach that is pressing in a world of rising nationalism.

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