Book Review of Xuechan Ma, The Spratly Islands and International Law: Legal Solutions to Coexistence and Cooperation in Disputed Areas

Abstract

1. The book under review is Xuechan Ma, The Spratly Islands and International Law:Legal Solutions to Coexistence and Cooperation in Disputed Areas, Koninklijke Brill NV, 2022, xxiv + 372 pp., index; ISBN: 978-90-04-50432-5. How to eliminate conflicts and promote maritime cooperation in the South China Sea is always a hot topic for academics. The book is a new try in this field after the delivery of the South China Sea Arbitration award. Instead of the whole area or other areas of the South China Sea, the book focuses only on the Spratly Islands area because the disputes in the Spratly Islands area are the most complicated ones and the analysis of these disputes might have implications for disputes in other areas of the South China Sea. 2. In addition to the introduction and conclusion (Chapters 1 and 9), the book is divided into two parts. Part 1 (Chapters 2–4) seeks to set out a predictable territorial order and permissible scope of unilateral activities to ensure peaceful coexistence of the disputant States in the Spratly Islands area. Part 2 (Chapters 5–8) probes the international legal frameworks for cooperation in resource utilization and pollution management among disputant States.