The beginning of November of this year saw another aggravation of relations between the PRC and the Philippines over overlapping claims to island territories in the South China Sea.

On geographical toponymy and international law

In this respect, the naming, or toponymy, of geographical territories, especially disputed ones, is far from a politically neutral issue. To extinguish unnecessary passions, and there are already more than enough of these in our imperfect world, the United Nations bodies include a special United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names (UNGEGN). This body periodically conducts a kind of audit of the global system of geographical toponyms, making amendments to it where necessary.

At the center of the controversy is Scarborough Shoal

In the present case, the dispute relates first and foremost to Scarborough Shoal, which consists of a number of small islands and reefs in the northern part of the waters of the South China Sea, with a total area (including the internal sea space) of 150 square kilometers. This shoal, which for centuries was only of interest because of its rich fishing waters, is located 200 kilometers from the main Philippine island of Luzon and 800 kilometers from the Chinese island of Hainan. It would seem that there should be no doubt as to who this territory belongs to. After all, according to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), signed in 1982 and ratified by most countries (but not all, one exception being the United States), Scarborough Shoal is within the 370-kilometer Zone of Economic Interest of the Philippines.

However the UNCLOS was clearly unable to take into account various aspects of interstate relations, including historical disagreements between neighbors over the ownership of certain territories.

And........

© New Eastern Outlook