China News Agency, Beijing, June 14 (Reporter Zheng Qiao) Li Mingjie, a researcher at the Institute of Ocean Development Strategy of the Ministry of Natural Resources, said on the 14th that the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (referred to as the "Convention") does not have the term "international waters". It is a concept unilaterally created by the United States for the purpose of maritime operations, and China does not need to adopt it.

  The United States has always claimed that most of the waters in the Taiwan Strait are "international waters".

In recent months, Chinese military officials have made it clear during meetings with the United States that the Taiwan Strait is not international waters.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin made it clear when answering relevant questions at a regular press conference on the 13th that there is no such thing as "international waters" in the international law of the sea.

On the 14th, Li Mingjie accepted an exclusive interview with a reporter from China News Agency to analyze this in detail.

  Li Mingjie pointed out that China is one of the signatories to the Convention, and the United States has not ratified the Convention based on its own interests.

For the waters in the middle of the Taiwan Strait, the official term of the United States is "international waters", which is a concept not included in the "Convention". The concept of "international waters" is used to refer to "all waters beyond the territorial sea, including the contiguous zone, the exclusive economic zone and the high seas", which is essentially a new concept and new term exclusively used by the United States created by "international waters". It escorted the United States to exercise its "navigational hegemony", and cleverly avoided its obligations under international law.

  He said that the 2007 edition of the Commander's Manual on the U.S. Law of Maritime Operations clearly stated that the division of the world's seas into national waters and international waters is "for the purpose of maritime operations" and is based on the convenience of the U.S. Navy's operations, not In accordance with the preamble of the Convention, "to establish a legal order for the seas and seas, with due regard to the sovereignty of all States, to facilitate international traffic and to promote the peaceful uses of the seas and seas".

  Li Mingjie emphasized that the Convention has established a series of complete concepts and a relatively complete legal system for "marine areas".

As a signatory to the Convention, China does not need to adopt the concept unilaterally fabricated by the United States for the convenience of its naval operations.

  Li Mingjie pointed out that the narrowest point of the Taiwan Strait is about 70 nautical miles and the widest point is about 220 nautical miles. Except for the waters and territorial waters in the mainland and Taiwan Island, the middle is the exclusive economic zone.

In accordance with international law and relevant international practices, the legal system related to the territorial sea and exclusive economic zone has become a rule of customary international law.

Although the United States did not ratify the Convention, it still declared relevant maritime claims.

From this point of view, the United States recognizes the relevant system of the exclusive economic zone in the Convention, and should give due consideration to the rights and obligations of other countries.

  Li Mingjie said that in practice, as an important trade channel from Northeast Asia to the South China Sea, ships including merchant ships and foreign warships have been able to navigate the Taiwan Strait normally.

The reason why the passage of US warships through the Taiwan Strait has become a regional "hot spot" is that it has been given too much political connotation.

Since 2018, the passage of U.S. warships through the Taiwan Strait has almost become a monthly "routine". Obviously, this is another "Taiwan card" to restrict China, coupled with the cooperation and hype of the "Taiwan independence" forces on the island. Regional marine hotspots in recent years.

  Zhang Hua, deputy director of the Political Research Office of the Taiwan Institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the China News Agency that the so-called "international waters" proposed by the United States is not based on the international law and international rules it claims, but is for the United States to maintain hegemony and peace in the Taiwan Strait. Make excuses for interfering in the Taiwan issue.

The United States is deliberately trying to confuse the public, just to deceive the international community, as if they are on the side of the law, while China is a "destroyer of order".

  Zhang Hua emphasized that the status of the Taiwan Strait in international law is clear, and the United States has been spreading wrong remarks. If it does not refute it, it will be "accumulated and unrealistic", which is not conducive to China's safeguarding its own rights and interests, especially promoting the peaceful development of cross-strait relations.

  Zhang Hua said that the United States should not try to use the Taiwan issue to suppress and contain China.

As Wei Fenghe, Chinese State Councilor and Defense Minister recently expressed at the 19th Shangri-La Dialogue, if anyone dares to split Taiwan, we will fight to the end, no matter the cost.

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