中菲南海法律战中方先失一局

China has lost the first round of a major legal fight with the Philippines after an International tribunal agreed to hear a case about contested islands in the resource-rich South China Sea.

一家国际法庭同意审理关于南中国海争议岛屿的案子，中国在与菲律宾的重大法律交锋中先失一局。

The Philippines last year asked a court in The Hague to invalidate the “nine-dash line” — a demarcation on Chinese maps that China uses to lay claim to most of the South China Sea. China has refused to participate in the case, but has made clear through other channels that it does not believe the court has jurisdiction. But the court decided on Thursday that it had such authority.

去年，菲律宾要求海牙常设仲裁法院(Permanent Court of Arbitration)判定“九段线”无效。所谓九段线，是中国地图上的一条分界线，中国用该分界线宣示对南中国海大部分海域拥有主权。中国已拒绝参与该案件，但已通过其他渠道明确表示，中国不认为该法院拥有管辖权。然而，该法院周四认定自己拥有这种权力。

Manila brought the case after concluding that efforts to address assertive Chinese behaviour in the region had run their course without any resolution. China and its maritime neighbours have had bitter disputes over dozens of islands, reefs and atolls in the waters for decades, but tensions have risen in recent years as China has grown its maritime presence in the waters.

菲律宾政府在认定应对中方在该地区强硬行为的种种努力已无果而终后，将该案提交到了海牙法庭。几十年来，围绕该海域数十个岛屿、礁石和珊瑚礁，中国与其海上邻国之间始终存在激烈争端。不过，最近几年，随着中国在该海域的存在不断增强，这种紧张关系也日渐升温。

“It is big and welcome news,” said a senior US military official. “It demonstrates the relevance of international law to territorial conflicts in the South China Sea and it shows that sovereignty claims are not indisputable.”

一位美国高级军官表示：“这是个值得欢迎的重大消息。它显示了国际法可适用于南中国海领土冲突，并证明主权主张不是无可争辩的。”

The Philippine department of foreign affairs also hailed the ruling. “We welcome the decision of the Arbitral Tribunal that it has jurisdiction over our case. We look forward to the tribunal’s further hearing on the merits of the case,” it said in a statement.

菲律宾外交部也对这一裁决表示欢迎。它在一份声明中表示：“我们欢迎该仲裁法庭(Arbitral Tribunal)做出的它对该案拥有管辖权的裁定。我们期待法庭对该案的是非曲直开展进一步听证。”

The decision by the Permanent Court of Arbitration — which hears disputes related to the UN Law of the Sea (Unclos) but cannot arbitrate sovereignty issues — came in the same week that the US challenged Chinese territorial claims over the Spratly Islands chain in the South China Sea.

就在海牙常设仲裁法院做出这一裁定的同一周，美国挑战了中国对南中国海斯普拉特利群岛（Spratly Islands,中国称南沙群岛——译者注）的领土主张。（海牙常设仲裁法院对与《联合国海洋法公约》(Unclos)有关的争端进行仲裁，但无权仲裁涉及主权的案件。）

China accused the US of making an “illegal incursion” into its waters after the USS Lassen, a destroyer, sailed near Subi Reef, a formerly submerged feature in the South China Sea that China has converted into an island. The move marked the first time since 2012 that the US Navy has sailed through the 12-nautical-mile zone around any islands claimed by China.

当时，美国海军“拉森”号(USS Lassen)驱逐舰驶近了渚碧礁(Subi Reef)，该岛原本是南中国海一个水下地物(submerged feature)，却被中国改建成一个岛屿。中国指责美国“非法进入”该海域。美国政府此举，是2012年以来美国海军首次驶进中国声称拥有主权的岛屿周边12海里水域。

The manoeuvre, which the US labelled a freedom of navigation operation, was designed to underscore that the US does not recognise territorial claims over artificial islands in the South China Sea. International law allows nations to claim the territory surrounding naturally formed islands, but not around submerged features that have been raised above sea level via construction.

这次行动被美国称为航行自由行动，旨在明确表示美国不承认对南中国海人工岛的领土主张。国际法允许国家对天然岛屿周边海域声索主权，但不允许它们对人工抬升至海面以上的水下地物周边海域声索主权。

Admiral John Richardson, chief of US naval operations, held a one-hour call on Thursday with Admiral Wu Shengli, his Chinese counterpart who protested the US operation. A US navy official said Adm Richardson stressed that the US would conduct freedom of navigation operations in waters that it believes to be international and not the territory of China.

周四，美国海军作战部长约翰理查森上将(Admiral John Richardson)和中国海军司令员吴胜利上将召开了一个小时的远程会议。吴胜利对美方的行动表示了抗议。一位美国海军军官表示，理查森上将强调说，美国会在它认为是公海（而非中国领海）的水域实施航行自由行动。

China has stepped up activity in the South China Sea, through which 30 per cent of global trade passes, over the past two years. It has increased the number of patrols by its coast guard, and also constructed five artificial islands by dredging thousands of acres around reefs and atolls. One of those islands — a reef called Fiery Cross — now has a 3km runway that is capable of handling military aircraft.

目前，全球30%的贸易活动要经由南中国海实现。过去两年，中国加大了在南中国海的活动力度。它增加了海警船的巡逻次数，还通过在礁石和珊瑚礁周边吹沙填出数千英亩土地，建造了五个人工岛。目前，其中一个被称为永暑礁(Fiery Cross Reef)的岛屿上已修建了一条3公里长的跑道，足以起降军用飞机。

The Philippines, Indonesia and other countries in Southeast Asia and beyond have protested the “nine-dash line” which China start printing inside Chinese passports in 2012. The US remained silent on the issue until last year when the state department called on China to clarify its meaning.

菲律宾、印尼及东南亚和东南亚以外的其他国家，都曾对“九段线”表示过抗议。自2012年起，中国开始把九段线印在新版护照内。去年，美国国务院呼吁中国澄清九段线的含义，在那之前，美国对这个问题始终保持沉默。

China published a paper last year which claimed that the court had no jurisdiction to hear the case since Manila was asking it to referee questions about sovereignty. But the court sided with Manila, which had argued that it was only asking the court to conclude that China could not derive territorial claims from islands that did not convey such rights under Unclos.

中国曾在去年发表一份立场文件，声称该法庭并无听证该案的管辖权，因为菲律宾政府要求该法庭裁断的是与主权有关的问题。然而，该法庭却站在了菲律宾政府一边。菲律宾政府曾声称，它只是要求该法庭判定，中国不能通过那些依据《联合国海洋法公约》规定不承载此类权利的岛屿提出领土主张。

The tribunal on Thursday “rejected the argument” in the Chinese paper that the dispute was “actually about sovereignty over the islands in the South China Sea” and therefore beyond its jurisdiction. The court has not set a date for the next stage of the case, which will be behind closed doors.

周四，该法庭“否定了（中国立场文件中的）论点”。该文件主张，这一争端“实质是南海部分岛礁的领土主权问题”，因此超出了该法庭的管辖范围。该法庭还未确定案件进入下一阶段审理（将为非公开审理）的日期。