International Law Is Not Always the First Principle for U.S. Military Operations
This week, the international media has been glued on USS Lassen’s entering waters near Zhubi Reef without the permission of the Chinese Government. According to the U.S. government, the U.S. has two basic reasons for this military operation, the first being the freedom of navigation, and the second being the international law. In the view of the U.S., the international law is the first principle. However, it is not always the case. The United States does not leave us a credible record of abiding by the international law when it considers its national interest being potentially threatened. For example, the United States has been the largest defaulter of the United Nations. Jesse Helms, a former Republican senator, rebuked the UN and argued that the United States should not pay its dues. In Helms’ view, the international law is nothing like domestic law. It was in this spirit that the United States senate did not ratify the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). For many Chinese, the fundamental dispute between China and the United States is the political implication, rather than the international law. The basic fact is that China does not claim 12 nautical miles “territorial sea” right for its reclamation land around the Nansha Islands. The Chinese government understands well UNCLOS, which did not state […]
China & The World Politics Oct 30, 2015