Semi-enclosed seas cooperation under UNCLOS

The South China Sea is a semi-enclosed sea where the enhanced duty to cooperate among littoral States under Article 123 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) applies. However, different interpretations of obligations under UNCLOS seriously hamper its effectiveness, and the extent to which States are required to comply is still in dispute. The sources of this are manifold: ambiguity between horatory and mandatory languages, lack of precise obligations of the general duty to cooperate, the variegated nature and application of the duty to cooperate depending on the maritime zone in question, and the Convention’s silence regarding publicity and implicit nature of certain provisions. This chapter contributes by refocusing the analysis back to the textual and contextual issues within UNCLOS, and how these dovetail concerns in the South China Sea. It draws attention to the technical and legal issues within UNCLOS and discusses various types and interpretations of obligations embedded in the Convention. It recommends to negotiate an amendment to the Convention in order to address ambiguity in interpretations of treaty obligations.