Law of the Sea

The Pentagon reported that two Chinese fishing vessels confronted a US surveillance ship Victorious in the Yellow Sea about 193 km off the coast. The Chinese ships were said to come "dangerously close" to the American vessel who was "conducting routine operations". A Chinese FM spokesman said the US action violated "relevant international law as well as Chinese laws and regulations".

Law of the Sea
Territory

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs set up a new Department of Boundary and Ocean Affairs to work on territorial boundaries and maritime delimitation. Over a million sq km of China's maritime areas are said to be under dispute with neighbouring states.

United Nations
Non-Proliferation

After North Korea conducted the second nuclear test, the Chinese Foreign Ministry issued a statement, saying the Chinese Government was "firmly opposed to this act". In its aftermath (and possibly in violation of Article III of the 1961 Treaty of Friendship, Co-operation and Mutual Assistance), China lent support to the Security Council Resolution 1874 which imposed an enhanced package of sanctions on North Korea, including calling upon UN members to inspect cargo vessels and airplanes suspected of carrying military materials in or out of North Korea. However, China insisted that the sanctions must be "appropriate and balanced", and emphasised that no country should threaten the use of force when it came to inspecting cargoes, since that was not authorised by the resolution. An FM spokesman also said inspection of North Korean vessels would require "sufficient evidence".

Taiwan

It seems that the theory of Taiwan's "unresolved status" has a self-defeating character in it -- the more you advance it, the less valid it becomes. Japan's de facto ambassador to Taiwan Masaki Saito proclaimed the theory as "the position of the Japanese Government" in a public speech in Chia-yi, only to retract it following a protest by Taiwan's deputy foreign minister, admitting that it was purely his personal view and did not reflect the position of the Japanese Government. A Chinese FM spokesman also expressed "strong dissatisfaction" and said the remarks "contravene the China-Japan Joint Statement".

Territory
Law of the Sea

The disputed Nansha Islands continued to pose a threat to China's national security, or so says a report issued by the State Oceanic Administration on maritime development in 2009, which admitted that there was no substantial progress in the resolution of the Nansha (Spratlys) dispute and there was continuing encroachment on China's islands, seas and resources.

Law of the Sea

Amid rising tensions in the seas surrounding China, the Chinese Government submitted to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf China's Preliminary Information Indicative of the Outer Limits of the Continental Shelf Beyond 200 Nautical Miles. The submission deals only with China's claims to the continental shelf in the East China Sea. But the Government reserves the right to submit claims in other areas and challenged the submissions from Vietnam and Malaysia on the continental shelf in the South China Sea. The submissions from Japan and Korea reportedly also contain claims to areas that overlap the Chinese claims.

Taiwan
International Organisations

All of a sudden, Taiwan’s participation in the activities of inter-governmental organisations is not that evil-minded and calamitous for China anymore. Yeh Ching-chuan, Taiwan’s Health Minister, represented the island at the World Health Assembly session as an observer and under the name of “Chinese Taipei”, marking the first time Taiwan participated in a meeting hosted by a UN agency since 1971. Taiwan’s participation was secured through an invitation from the secretariat of the World Health Organisation. Can this model be followed in Taiwan’s pursuit to join other international organisations, assuming the island continues to observe religiously the One China policy? President Ma Ying-jeou stressed that Taiwan should avoid a confrontational approach that could irritate the mainland in increasing Taiwan's international presence.