Redefining the Legal I Status of the Taiwan Strait

Abstract

AbstractThe Taiwan Strait is a critical corridor connecting the East China Sea to the South China Sea. The divided status of China as a result of the civil war in 1949 has made the situation in the Taiwan Strait complicated and uncertain. After the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (LOS), the legal status of the Taiwan Strait has been changed from a strait embodying high seas waters to a strait only with waters under national jurisdiction of China. The waters within the Strait may be divided into several sea zones in accordance with the LOS Convention, i.e., the internal waters, territorial sea and EEZ/continental shelf. Due to the difference among the sea zones, the navigational waterways within the Taiwan Strait are subject to different legal rules. Thus cross-Strait co-operation between mainland China and Taiwan is necessary to manage the Taiwan Strait and human activities therein.