Topic: 2024-The Situatin in the South China Sea
Country: Russian Federation
Delegate Name: Tristan Gerville-Reache
There are 4.1 million fishing vessels across the globe, and it is reported that half of the world’s fishing vessels operate in the South China Sea (SCS). It is also estimated that around 13% of the world’s trade occurs in the same region. A conflict quickly arose regarding the claiming of islands and sea territory between China, Vietnam, Taiwan, Malaysia, Brunei, and the Philippines. The lack of cooperation has led to disputes and conflict regarding military and commercial ships, leading to certain countries forcing fishermen to beach their boats, as well as armed military aircraft and vessels finding conflict in pathing. UNCLOS established EEZs to allow each coastal nation to have the right to gather and exploit their coast’s resources within 200 nautical miles, but this does not address the issue regarding the Paracel Islands and the Spratly Islands, which either do not fall under any country’s EEZ or overlap between two or more country’s EEZ. The issue at hand is expanding, and random territorial claims without UN agreement are not the answer.
The Russian Federation does not believe that international intervention is necessary to resolve the conflict at hand. We encourage the disputing countries to convene and discuss a temporary truce regarding military warfare and transportation within the region. The Russian Federation supports each country’s EEZs and believes that countries whose sea territories overlap should negotiate separate policies regarding their shared region, such as a split, or establish another border to ensure each country gets an equal territorial chance for resource gathering. The safety of civilian vessels and aircraft can be assured through ample communication between disputing parties. Shared EEZ should not contain military vessels and aircraft, so this will allow the traders and fishermen to have guaranteed safety from neighboring countries’ governments.
Regarding the Paracel and Spratly Islands, the Russian Federation believes that all disputing parties should agree to allow citizens to freely travel between territories, and relieve government military from the islands. Because there are multiple parties involved, it is important to convene with all parties and concede to a policy that all can agree to. We have learned from the ASEAN that a singular country’s claim to a territory is insufficient to acquire the land. Learning from this mistake, a common temporary solution would be to claim these islands as international zone until further discussion about the territory claims is undergone. We believe involvement by unaffected parties is counterproductive to the hopes of peace in this international melting pot of trade.
Works Cited
“Issuing Presidential Statement, Security Council Underlines Importance of Maritime Safety, Safeguarding Oceans for Legitimate Use | Meetings Coverage and Press Releases.” Un.org, 9 Aug. 2021, press.un.org/en/2021/sc14598.doc.htm. Accessed 27 Nov. 2024.
“Russia’s Conduct in the South China Sea.” Orfonline.org, 2021, www.orfonline.org/research/russias-conduct-in-the-south-china-sea. Accessed 27 Nov. 2024.
