The Sino-Vietnamese agreement on maritime boundary delimitation in the Gulf of Tonkin

Ocean Development and International Law

Volumn 36, Issue 1, 2005, Pages 13-24

  Keyuan, Zou ^a  

^a NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SINGAPORE   (Singapore)

Author keywords

China; Fishery management; Gulf of Tonkin; Maritime boundary delimitation; Vietnam

Indexed keywords

BILATERAL AGREEMENT; BOUNDARY DELIMITATION; MARITIME BOUNDARY; TRANSBOUNDARY COOPERATION;

GULF OF TONKIN; OCEANIC REGIONS; PACIFIC OCEAN; SOUTH CHINA SEA; WORLD;

EID: 15044354413     PISSN: 00908320     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/00908320590904920     Document Type: Article

References (39)

1. The figure that Vietnam refers to is 126,250 square kilometers, while the Chinese figure is 128,000 square kilometres. See, respectively, "Interview by Foreign Minister Nguyen Dy Nien about Tonkin Gulf Delimitation Agreement," 1 July 2004, at http://www.vnagency.com.vn/ newsa.asp?LANGUAGE_ID=2&CATEGORY_ID=29&NEWS_ID=106778 (accessed 2 July 2004) and "Introduction to the Sino-Vietnamese Beibu Gulf Delimitation Agreement," 30 July 2004, at http://www.fmprc.gov.cn/ chn/zxxx/t145558.htm (accessed 10 August 2004).
2. See "Interview by Foreign Minister Nguyen Dy Nien about Tonkin Gulf Delimitation Agreement," ibid. For a detailed assessment of the legal issues regarding the boundary delimitation in the Gulf of Tonkin, see Zou Keyuan, "Maritime Boundary Delimitation in the Gulf of Tonkin," 30 Ocean Development and International Law, 1999: 235-254.
3. An unofficial English text of the Fishery Agreement is appended to Zou Keyuan, "Sino-Vietnamese Fishery Agreement for the Gulf of Tonkin," 17 International Journal of Marine and Coastal Law, 2002: 127-148.
4. See "Beibu Gulf," in Encyclopaedia Sinica: Geography of China (Beijing: China Encyclopaedia Press, 1993)(in Chinese), p. 23.
5. See: UN Doc. A/51/645 (1996), 12.
6. See United Nations, Office for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea, The Law of the Sea: Baselines: National Legislation with Illustrative Maps (New York: United Nations, 1989), 384.
7. See United Nations, Office for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea, The Law of the Sea: Baselines: National Legislation with Illustrative Maps (New York: United Nations, 1989), 384.
8. See Zou Keyuan, supra note 2, 245.
9. According to a Chinese official from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the majority of the islands in the Gulf of Tonkin are within the straight baselines of the two countries and some are used as basepoints. See "Sino-Vietnamese Delimitation in the Gulf of Tonkin Does not Concern Sovereignty over Islands," 3 August 2004, at http:// www.peacehall.com/news/gb/china/2004/08/200408031243.shtml (accessed 13 August 2004). If accurate, this implies that the two countries have straight baselines for the Gulf.
10. For the illustrative map of this line, see Zou Keyuan, supra. note 2, 237.
11. Nguyen Hong Thao, "The Settlement of Disputes in Bac Bo (Tonkin) Gulf," Vietnam Law & Legal Forum, Vol. 7, No. 77, January 2001, 17.
12. See "Interview by Foreign Minister Nguyen Dy Nien about Tonkin Gulf Delimitation Agreement," supra note 1.
13. See "Let the Sino-Vietnamese Maritime Border Become a Peaceful, Friendly and Cooperative Tie-Interview by Wang Yi on the Entry into Force of the Sino-Vietnamese Maritime Delimitation Agreement and Fishery Cooperation Agreement in the Gulf of Tonkin," People's Daily (in Chinese), 1 July 2004, p. 3.
14. See "Let the Sino-Vietnamese Maritime Border Become a Peaceful, Friendly and Cooperative Tie-Interview by Wang Yi on the Entry into Force of the Sino-Vietnamese Maritime Delimitation Agreement and Fishery Cooperation Agreement in the Gulf of Tonkin," People's Daily (in Chinese), 1 July 2004, p. 3.
15. See "Interview by Foreign Minister Nguyen Dy Nien about Tonkin Gulf Delimitation Agreement," supra note 1.
16. See "Introduction to the Sino-Vietnamese Beibu Gulf Delimitation Agreement," supra note 1.
17. Reproduced in Sun Pyo Kiu, Maritime Delimitation and Interim Arrangements in North East Asia (The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, 2004), 338.
18. Fishery Agreement, supra note 6, Article 22(2).
19. Fishery Agreement, supra note 6, Article 11.
20. "Entry into force of the Sino-Vietnamese Fishery Agreement causes 10,000 fishermen to abandon boats and go to the shore in Hainan," 5 July 2004, at http://dailynews.muzi.com/11/chinese/1318446.shtml (accessed 6 July 2004).
21. See "Sino-Vietnamese Agreement on Fishery Cooperation in the Gulf of Tonkin is coming into force and Guangxi fishermen drew lots for operations in the Common Fishery Zone," China Ocean News (in Chinese), 29 June 2004.
22. "Sino-Vietnamese delimitation concerns three problems: Sea area, fishery and oil and gas," 5 August 2004, at http://www.chinanews. com.cn/news/2004year/2004-08-05/26/468344.shtml (accessed 13 August 2004).
23. See "Fishing boats must comply with 12 new regulations when they enter and operate in the Sino-Vietnamese agreed waters," People's Daily (in Chinese), 1 July 2004, p. 3.
24. See Epsey Cooke Farrell, The Socialist Republic of Vietnam and the Law of the Sea: An Analysis of Vietnamese Behaviour within the Emerging International Oceans Regime (The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, 1998), 251.
25. See Sun Shangzhi (ed.), Study on the Comprehensive and Co-ordinated Development of China's Beibu Gulf Rim (Beijing: Meteorological Press, 1997) (in Chinese), p. 10.
26. There are five oilfields developed by China in the Gulf of Tonkin. For details, see http://www.cnooc.com.cn/ (accessed 13 August 2004).
27. China Business Information Network, 26 February 1998.
28. See "Interview by Foreign Minister Nguyen Dy Nien about Tonkin Gulf Delimitation Agreement," supra note 1.
29. See "Conference on implementation of Tonkin Gulf demarcation and fisheries agreements," 12 July 2004, at http://www.vnagency.com.vn/ newsa.asp?LANGUAGE_ID=2&CATEGORY_ID=29&NEWS_ID=108471 (accessed 11 August 2004).
30. See "Implementation of Viet Nam-China Agreement on Fisheries Cooperation," 10 August 2004, at http://www.vnagency.com.vn/ newsa.asp?LANGUAGE_ID=2&CATEGORY_ID=30&NEWS_ID=112982 (accessed 11 August 2004).
31. See "Training on Tonkin Gulf demarcations for fishermen," 6 July 2004, at http://www.vnagency.com.vn/ newsa.asp?LANGUAGE_ID=2&CATEGORY_ID=29&NEWS_ID=107394 (accessed 11 August 2004).
32. Text is available in http://www.law-lib.com (accessed 5 July 2004).
33. Text is available in http://www.law-lib.com (accessed 5 July 2004).
34. Text is available in http://www.law-lib.com (accessed 5 July 2004).
35. "First Cruise of the China Marine Surveillance to Safeguard the Beibu Gulf Border," 9 August 2004, at http://www.peopledaily.com.cn/GB/shizheng/1026/2694134.html (accessed 9 August 2004).
36. "Special meeting of the heads of the negotiation delegations of China and Vietnam held," People's Daily (in Chinese), 10 August 2004, p.4.
37. See "Interview by Foreign Minister Nguyen Dy Nien about Tonkin Gulf Delimitation Agreement," supra note 1.
38. "Special meeting of the heads of the negotiation delegations of China and Vietnam held," supra note 39.
39. See "Consensus on border reached with Viet Nam," China Daily, 10 August 2004.