Trouble Over the Starting Line: State Practice Concerning Baselines in the South China Sea

It has long been understood in international law terms that ‘the land dominates the sea’. ¹ That is, sovereignty over land territory is a necessary prerequisite for claims to maritime jurisdiction extending offshore. This, in turn, provokes the seemingly straightforward question: where does the land end and the sea begin? The straight forward answer is ‘the coast’. However, in practical terms the coast generally consists of an inter-tidal zone rather than a specific line. Legally, the land/sea interface, is represented by a coastal State’s baselines along the coast. Baselines are significant not only because they mark the outer ‘edge’ or limit to land territory but because they provide the ‘starting line’ for the measurement of maritime claims offshore. Additionally, baselines are often critical to the delimitation of maritime boundaries.