OUVRAGE : K. Zou (ed.), The Belt and Road Initiative and the Law of the Sea

Keyuan ZOU 

The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) was put forward by Chinese President Xi Jinping in the year of 2013 when he visited Central Asia and Indonesia respectively. In accordance, the Belt refers to the “Silk Road Economic Belt” which is land based while the Road means the “21st-Century Maritime Silk Road” which is ocean based. That is why it is also called “One Belt, One Road” (OBOR). The Initiative focuses on cooperation between China and countries along the belt and road and provides new impetus and practical paths for intra- and inter-regional connectivity. China’s National Development and Reform Commission, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Commerce jointly released a document in March 2015 that offered insights in the China-initiated vision and endeavors.

As for the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, it focuses on using Chinese coastal ports to link China with Europe through the South China Sea and the Indian Ocean and also to connect China with the South Pacific Ocean through the South China Sea. It is to be noted that the Silk Road Economic Belt on land also has maritime implications, for example, connecting China to the Baltic through Central Asia, Russia and Europe. Moreover, in addition to connectivity between land and sea, there are rights enjoyed by the land-locked states under international law, which will be discussed in this volume. Since 2013, there has been a discussion on BRI in academia and some are concerning law and policy dimensions. However, unlike the existing literature on BRI in general legal perspective, this book focuses more specifically on the maritime implications of the BRI in the context of the international law of the sea.

The 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea has established the maritime order of the international community by providing a general legal framework governing maritime spaces and human activities at sea. Though it is not comprehensive covering all aspects of the sea and oceanic activities, the Convention is widely recognised as a “Constitution for the Oceans”. Therefore, all ocean-related activities generating from the Maritime Silk Road (MSR) projects in the cooperation between China and other countries along the msr are subject to the LOSC governance, in particular between the countries that are parties to the Convention.


TABLE OF CONTENTS

Acknowledgments
Editor and Contributors
Abbreviations

Keyuan Zou, The Belt and Road Initiative and the Law of the Sea: an Introduction

The Belt and Road Initiative and the Use of the Oceans

Seokwoo Lee, Hee Eun Lee, The Implications of the Belt and Road Initiative of China and Maritime Economic Cooperation in East Asia for South Korea
Renping Zhang, The Belt and Road Initiative and Maritime Silk Road: Legal Implications for the Use of the Oceans

Sea Lanes of Communication and Navigational Safety

Ted L. McDorman, Old Issues and New Developments Respecting International Navigational Rights and Obligations in Arctic Waters
Suk Kyoon Kim, The Safety of Passenger Ships in Korea and Its Implications for the Maritime Silk Road Initiative
Anthony Carty, China’s Dilemma: between the South China Sea and One Belt One Road

Marine Energy and Sea Ports

Yen-Chiang Chang, The Global Energy Interconnection Initiative and the Development of Marine Renewable Energy in China: Legal Aspects
Ling Zhu, The Role of Sea Ports in the Belt and Road Strategy
Zhihua Zheng, Harmonization of Transport Law under the Belt and Road Initiative

Maritime Law Enforcement and Cooperation

Warwick Gullett, Bilateral Cooperation in Fisheries Law Enforcement: Developments in State Practice
Vasco Becker-Weinberg, “The Belt and Road Initiative”: Enhancing Maritime Cooperation in the Mediterranean and Red Seas
Chen-Ju Chen, Maritime Law Enforcement, Cooperation, and the Belt and Road Initiative

Access of the Land-locked States to the Sea

Helmut Tuerk, The Rights of Land-locked States in the Law of the Sea
Anastasia Telesetsky, The Freedom to Fish and Land-Locked Developing States: an Equitable Proposal for Allocating Catch Shares to Land-Locked Developing States

Index

Keyuan ZOU (ed.), The Belt and Road Initiative and the Law of the Sea,
Leiden, Brill/Nijhoff, 2020 (220 pp.)