ABSTRACT

The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea was eventually adopted on April 30, 1982, and entered into force on November 16, 1994. Territorial disputes over numerous islands in the South China Sea have intensified as the LOS moved closer to completion because conflicts over fishing grounds between nations in Southeast Asia are overlapping EEZ claims involving oil-bearing seabed substructures. Moreover, it is indefinite that the islands claimed by Malaysia are on the extension of its continental shelf as it is said that none of the disputed islands in the South China Sea is a geographical extension of the continental shelf of any country in the area. If a rock granted to a certain claimant doesn't meet the requirements of islands, its maritime zone in the South China Sea is also extremely limited. For the countries surrounding the South China Sea, it is all the more natural that their claimed islands and rocks have respective EEZs.