China's Law of the Sea: The New Rules of Maritime Order

The book "China's Law of the Sea" examines China's maritime disputes and their implications for international law. It argues that China is changing the rules of international order by building domestic legal institutions and implementing its "law of the sea" to consolidate control over strategic maritime space.

Format: Hardback
Length: 416 pages
Publication date: 02 May 2023
Publisher: Yale University Press

The law and geopolitics of China's maritime disputes are the subject of in-depth analysis in the book "China's Law of the Sea." It offers a thorough empirical investigation of whether and how China is altering "the rules" of international order, particularly the international law of the sea. The disputes, which are more than just sovereignty disputes over islands and rocks in the South and East China Seas, are primarily about the strategic maritime space connected to those islands. To consolidate control over this crucial maritime space, China's leaders have begun implementing "China's law of the sea," which includes the establishment of domestic legal institutions, bureaucratic organizations, and a naval and maritime law enforcement apparatus.

Isaac B. Kardon examines China's laws and policies related to defending, exploiting, studying, administering, surveilling, and patrolling disputed waters. He also considers the reactions of other claimants to these Chinese practices, as other states must acquiesce for China's preferences to become international rules. China's maritime disputes provide unique insights into the nature and scope of China's challenge to international order.

Dimension: 235 x 156 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780300256475