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Spór o złoża ropy naftowej i gazu na Morzu Wschodniochińskim

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Bronicki K.

Rocznik Bezpieczeństwa Międzynarodowego

2008

vol. 3

205-215

The East China Sea, together with the South China Sea and the Yellow Sea is one of the three half -closed water areas which separate continental China from the Pacifi c Ocean. The sea itself is separated from the ocean by the Riukiu archipelago, the Taiwan Strait separates it from the South China Sea, in the north it meets the Yellow Sea, and the Korean Strait separates it from the Sea of Japan. At its banks lie three provinces of mainland China: Fujian, Zhejiang and Jiangsu. The reach oil and gas deposits of the East China See are a subject of interest for the countries lying at its banks: China, South Korea and Japan. Between late sixties and early seventies of the twentieth century, Japan put forward unilateral boundary claims, using the median line pinciple. South Korea and Taiwan decided to use the natural prolongation of land territory principle. The claims overlapped with one another to diff erent extents. In the year 1970 the three countries: South Korea, Japan and Rapublic of China made an agreement for joint development of the mineral rescources. Taiwan decided to withdraw from the agreement due to the strong reaction of PR China, while Korea and Japan poceeded with the scheme without Taiwan, by signing an agreement on joint development in 1974. In 1982 a new United Nations convention on law of the sea was signed. In the meantime, PR China’s needs for energetic rescources raised immensely. As a result, the boundary issues rose again after the convention came into force in 1994. PR China claims, that it has right to develop all rescources lying on the natural prolongation of its continental shelf. Japan however,unilaterally drew a “median line”, which it claims to be the boarder of its exclusive economic zone. Moreover, both sides claim sovereign rights over the Senkaku/Diaoyu islands, which lie between Taiwan and Okinawa. These uninhabited islets are extremely important due to the oil/gas deposits in their area, as well as their strategic location, which is close to important sea routes. The japanese possition on this issue de facto received support from the United States, wich administrted the japanese Riukiu islands until the early seventies. However, after returning the islands to Japan, the US avoided taking strong position on this matter, leaving the problem for the two countries to resolve themselves. Another disputed problem is whether the uninhabited Senkaku/Diaoyu islands have a right to their own exclusive economic zone. In the eighties of the twentieth century, the PR China began geological excavationsof the East China Sea basin. Between 2003 and 2005 the Chinese estabilished the Chunxiao oil/gas fi eld, located 5 kilometers on the chinese side of the japanese “median line”. Japan became concerned, that the Chinese would “suck out” the rescources lying on the japanese side. In 2005, the japanese government granted drilling rights to the japanese Teikoku oil company. This action met a strong response from the side of PR China, which put the PLA Navy into the state of readiness. The East China Sea delimitation problems are particularily diffi cult to resolve due to mutual historical resentiments of Japan and China. Therefore, the gvernments of both countries do not always base on pure pragmaticism while managing the discussion. Other signifi cant problem is posed by disputed teritorries such as Senkaku/Diaoyu islands, which pose a great obstacle to chosing the base for delimiting the exclusive economic zones, in accordance with the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. None of th sides wishes ti withdraw their claims, which would make them lose face. The resolution is therefore diffi cult to acchieve, if the countries do not reach an agreement. If they fail to do so, the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea will issue a verdict, which could be diffi cult to accept for one of the countries. Some chances of agreement are still present, as both countries already have positive experiences of cooperation in the fi eld of rescource development. The dispute however can be also seen as an emanation of the rising regional power rivalry.

W artykule omówiono spory, jakie toczą państwa zlewiska Morza Wschodniochińskiego w celu uzyskania kontroli nad złożami surowców energetycznych. Autor wskazuje na uwarunkowania ekonomiczne, polityczne, historyczne oraz prawne tego sporu. W jego opinii problemy delimitacyjne na Morzu Wschodniochińskim są trudne do rozwiązania właśnie ze względu na uwarunkowania polityczne i resentymenty historycznych we wzajemnych kontaktach pomiędzy Japonią i Chinami. W sytuacji braku porozumienia realnym rozwiązaniem jawi się międzynarodowe orzecznictwo (Międzynarodowego Trybunału Prawa Morza), co – zdaniem Autora – będzie trudne do zaakceptowania przez jedną ze stron sporu. W Jego opinii właśnie obawa przed negatywnymi konsekwencjami decyzji Trybunału stanowi obecnie jedyną szansę na rozwiązanie tego sporu poprzez dwustronne negocjacje.

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1 Rocznik Bezpieczeństwa Międzynarodowego

1 Bronicki K.

1 2008

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Spór o złoża ropy naftowej i gazu na Morzu Wschodniochińskim