How is the Beibu Gulf between China and Vietnam demarcated?

On February 25th, 65438, China and Vietnam signed the Agreement on Delimitation of the Territorial Sea, Exclusive Economic Zone and Continental Shelf between People's Republic of China (PRC) and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and the Agreement on Fisheries Cooperation between People's Republic of China (PRC) and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam in Beibu Gulf.

I. Background of the Sino-Vietnamese Beibu Gulf Delimitation Agreement

Beibu Gulf is a semi-closed sea area surrounded by the land of China and China and Hainan Island, with an area of about/kloc-0.28 million square kilometers. China and Viet Nam are adjacent to each other in Beibu Gulf. Historically, China and Vietnam have never divided the Beibu Gulf. Before the 1960s, China and Viet Nam were only under the jurisdiction of their respective territorial waters, and the resources in the Bay were shared by * * * * and lived in peace. For example, the relevant departments of the two countries signed three fishery agreements in 1957, 6 1 and 63 respectively, and made arrangements for fishing in their respective offshore areas (6- 12 nautical miles). This means that 6- 12 nautical miles away is the high seas, and fishermen from both sides can freely enter fishing.

Since the early 1970s, with the development of modern law of the sea system, there has been a problem of dividing the territorial sea, exclusive economic zone and continental shelf of the Beibu Gulf between China and Vietnam. According to the modern law of the sea system centered on the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, which was opened for signature in 1982 and came into force in 1994, coastal countries can have a territorial sea with a width of 12 nautical mile, an exclusive economic zone of 200 nautical miles and a continental shelf with a maximum of 350 nautical miles. Coastal countries enjoy sovereignty over territorial waters, but ships from other countries can pass through them harmlessly. As for the exclusive economic zone and continental shelf, coastal countries have no sovereignty, but enjoy the exclusive sovereign right to explore, develop, conserve and manage their natural resources. This means that a country is not allowed to fish in the exclusive economic zone of another country at will unless it obtains the consent of that country.

Beibu Gulf is a long and narrow bay with a width of about 1 10- 180 nautical miles. China and Viet Nam are both parties to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. According to the provisions of the Convention, the exclusive economic zone and continental shelf of the two countries in the Beibu Gulf all overlap and must be resolved through demarcation.

The actual situation also shows that in the past, due to the lack of a clear dividing line in the Beibu Gulf, disputes often occurred between the two countries, which led to instability and affected the relations between the two countries. Therefore, the division of the Beibu Gulf by the two countries through negotiations is not only an inevitable requirement for the development of the international marine system, but also a realistic need for the situation in the Beibu Gulf.

Second, the demarcation of the Beibu Gulf between China and Vietnam.

(1) Overall area ratio. According to China's view that the political and geographical situation of the two countries in the Beibu Gulf is generally balanced, and according to the principle of fairness recognized by international law, the two sides agreed to fully consider the relevant situation of the Beibu Gulf and refer to international practice to divide the Beibu Gulf through negotiations in order to obtain a fair demarcation result. According to the delimitation agreement, the demarcation line between the territorial sea, the exclusive economic zone and the continental shelf of the Beibu Gulf between China and Vietnam is connected by 2 1 coordinate points in turn, with a total length of about 500 kilometers from the mouth of Beilun River to the south mouth of Beibu Gulf. The sea areas obtained by the two sides are roughly the same, and a fair demarcation result satisfactory to both sides has been achieved.

(2) Fisheries. The demarcation of Beibu Gulf is directly related to the distribution and utilization of fishery resources and the vital interests of hundreds of thousands of fishermen along the coast of China. In this case, China made it clear to Viet Nam at the beginning of the negotiations that the issue of fishery arrangements must be properly resolved while the Beibu Gulf is demarcated, and the demarcation agreement must be signed and come into effect at the same time as the fishery cooperation agreement.

After efforts, the two sides agreed to conduct demarcation negotiations and fishery negotiations at the same time, and signed the Beibu Gulf Delimitation Agreement and the Sino-Vietnamese Beibu Gulf Fisheries Cooperation Agreement on February 25, 2000. Later, after nearly three years of negotiations, China and Viet Nam signed a supplementary protocol to the fishery cooperation agreement in Beijing on April 29th this year. The two sides finally settled the fishery arrangement in Beibu Gulf properly.

The delimitation agreement only stipulates in principle that the two sides should cooperate on the conservation, management and utilization of fishery resources in Beibu Gulf. The form of cooperation with rest is embodied in the terms of the fishery agreement. According to the fishery agreement, the two sides have designated a large-area (over 30,000 square kilometers) cross-border fishing area that both fishing boats can enter, with a time limit of 15 years; In addition, a four-year cross-border transitional arrangement water area was set aside in the north of Tongyu Fishing Area, allowing fishing boats from both countries to enter the operation. At the same time, the agreement also clearly stipulates that the two sides will conduct long-term fishery cooperation in the * * * fishing area in the spirit of mutual benefit. The two sides agreed to set up the Beibu Gulf Fisheries Joint Committee to specifically implement relevant cooperation matters. The considerations for making the above arrangements are: first, to affect the traditional fishing methods of Chinese fishermen in Beibu Gulf as little as possible; At the same time, under the background that China is gradually carrying out fishery management according to the new maritime law system, it will strive for more abundant time for the adjustment of China's fishery industry and the fishermen's conversion to other industries.

What needs to be clear is that this arrangement is a gradual transition to the new maritime law system, and it is made under the background of increasing pressure of sustainable utilization of fishery resources in Beibu Gulf. According to experts' estimation, the sustainable utilization of fishery resources in Beibu Gulf is about 600,000 tons/year, but in recent years, the fishing capacity of fishermen on both sides of Beibu Gulf has exceeded 6,543,800 tons, far exceeding the carrying capacity of fishery resources in the Gulf. If this continues, fishery resources will shrink or even dry up, with very serious consequences. The fishery arrangement reached between China and Vietnam has established a cooperative management mechanism of fishery resources in Beibu Gulf, which is helpful to straighten out the fishery relationship between the two sides, establish a good working order for fishermen of the two countries in Beibu Gulf, and ultimately contribute to the sustainable utilization of fishery resources and the protection of the ecological environment in the Bay, which is in line with China's long-term fishery interests and benefits our future generations.

(3) Oil and gas problems. The two sides agreed to respect the rights related to the territorial sea, exclusive economic zone and continental shelf allocated to each other. Therefore, both sides have the right to explore and exploit oil, natural gas or mineral resources on their continental shelves. However, referring to the delimitation treaties and practices of various countries, the two sides agreed to conduct friendly consultations on a single undiscovered cross-border oil and gas geological structure or cross-border mineral deposits and reach a cooperative mining agreement.