The People's Republic of China and the Use of International Law in the Spratly Islands Dispute
![handle is hein.journals/stanit28 and id is 433 raw text is: The People's Republic of China
and the Use of International
Law in the Spratly Islands
Dispute
Michael Bennett*
I. INTRODUCTION
The Spratly Islands, a chain of small islets and atolls in the
South China Sea, are an unlikely place to find ramifications of the
end of the superpower rivalry.' However, the efforts of the Peo-
ple's Republic of China (the PRC) to gain a more prominent
position in the post-Soviet world order2 could turn a long-stand-
ing sovereignty dispute over the Spratlys into a serious interna-
tional conflict.
Along with the PRC, five other countries-Vietnam, the Re-
public of China (Taiwan), Malaysia, Brunei, and the Philip-
pines-all claim territorial sovereignty over the Spratly Islands.'
The claimants desire the islands because of their strategic loca-
* Associate, O'Melveny & Myers (New York); J.D., Columbia University School of
Law 1990.
I For a general discussion of the post-Soviet strategic environment, see Charles
Krauthammer, The Unipolar Moment, 70 FOREIGN AFF. 23 (1991); William Pfaff, Redefining
World Power, 70 FOREIGN AFF. 34 (1991).
2 See generally Nicholas D. Kristof, As China Looks at World Order, It Detects New Strug-
gles Emerging, N.Y. TIMES, Apr. 21, 1992, at Al, AI0 [hereinafter As China Looks at World
Order]; Gun Diplomacy, ECONOMIST, Oct. 26, 1991, at 40; The Other Ring of Fire, ECONO-
MIST, July 6, 1991, at 25; Chinese Premier Li Peng Kicks off Six-Nation Mideast Tour in Egypt,
UPI, July 2, 1991, available in LEXIS, Nexis Library, UPI File.
3 The Chinese people call the Spratly Islands the Nansha Islands. The name
Spratly comes from the name of an English commander who charted the islands in the
nineteenth century. For an overview of the Spratly Islands dispute, see MARWYN S. SAM-
UELS, CONTEST FOR THE SOUTH CHINA SEA (1982); Choon-ho Park, The South China Sea
Disputes: Who Owns the Islands and the Natural Resources, 5 OCEAN DEV. & INT'L L.J. 27
(1978). The Paracel Islands, which lie to the Northeast of the Spratlys, have also been a
source of controversy. In 1974, China and Vietnam fought a brief naval battle over the
Paracels. See Tao Cheng, The Dispute over the South China Sea Islands, 10 TEX. INT'L L.J.
265 (1975).](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/stanit28&div=18&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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The People's Republic of China and the Use of International Law in the Spratly Islands Dispute
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