中菲南海法律戰中方先失一局
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.
一家國際法庭同意審理關於南中國海爭議島嶼的案子，中國在與菲律賓的重大法律交鋒中先失一局。
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，菲律賓要求海牙常設仲裁法院(Permanent Court of Arbitration)判定“九段線”無效。所謂九段線，是中國地圖上的一條分界線，中國用該分界線宣示對南中國海大部分海域擁有主權。中國已拒絕參與該案件，但已通過其他渠道明確表示，中國不認爲該法院擁有管轄權。然而，該法院週四認定自己擁有這種權力。
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.
菲律賓政府在認定應對中方在該地區強硬行爲的種種努力已無果而終後，將該案提交到了海牙法庭。幾十年來，圍繞該海域數十個島嶼、礁石和珊瑚礁，中國與其海上鄰國之間始終存在激烈爭端。不過，最近幾年，隨着中國在該海域的存在不斷增強，這種緊張關係也日漸升溫。
“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.”
一位美國高級軍官表示：“這是個值得歡迎的重大消息。它顯示了國際法可適用於南中國海領土衝突，並證明主權主張不是無可爭辯的。”
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.
菲律賓外交部也對這一裁決表示歡迎。它在一份聲明中表示：“我們歡迎該仲裁法庭(Arbitral Tribunal)做出的它對該案擁有管轄權的裁定。我們期待法庭對該案的是非曲直開展進一步聽證。”
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.
就在海牙常設仲裁法院做出這一裁定的同一周，美國挑戰了中國對南中國海斯普拉特利羣島（Spratly Islands,中國稱南沙羣島——譯者注）的領土主張。（海牙常設仲裁法院對與《聯合國海洋法公約》(Unclos)有關的爭端進行仲裁，但無權仲裁涉及主權的案件。）
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.
當時，美國海軍“拉森”號(USS Lassen)驅逐艦駛近了渚碧礁(Subi Reef)，該島原本是南中國海一個水下地物(submerged feature)，卻被中國改建成一個島嶼。中國指責美國“非法進入”該海域。美國政府此舉，是2012年以來美國海軍首次駛進中國聲稱擁有主權的島嶼周邊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.
這次行動被美國稱爲航行自由行動，旨在明確表示美國不承認對南中國海人工島的領土主張。國際法允許國家對天然島嶼周邊海域聲索主權，但不允許它們對人工擡升至海面以上的水下地物周邊海域聲索主權。
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.
週四，美國海軍作戰部長約翰理查森上將(Admiral John Richardson)和中國海軍司令員吳勝利上將召開了一個小時的遠程會議。吳勝利對美方的行動表示了抗議。一位美國海軍軍官表示，理查森上將強調說，美國會在它認爲是公海（而非中國領海）的水域實施航行自由行動。
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%的貿易活動要經由南中國海實現。過去兩年，中國加大了在南中國海的活動力度。它增加了海警船的巡邏次數，還通過在礁石和珊瑚礁周邊吹沙填出數千英畝土地，建造了五個人工島。目前，其中一個被稱爲永暑礁(Fiery Cross Reef)的島嶼上已修建了一條3公里長的跑道，足以起降軍用飛機。
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.
菲律賓、印尼及東南亞和東南亞以外的其他國家，都曾對“九段線”表示過抗議。自2012年起，中國開始把九段線印在新版護照內。去年，美國國務院呼籲中國澄清九段線的含義，在那之前，美國對這個問題始終保持沉默。
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.
中國曾在去年發表一份立場文件，聲稱該法庭並無聽證該案的管轄權，因爲菲律賓政府要求該法庭裁斷的是與主權有關的問題。然而，該法庭卻站在了菲律賓政府一邊。菲律賓政府曾聲稱，它只是要求該法庭判定，中國不能通過那些依據《聯合國海洋法公約》規定不承載此類權利的島嶼提出領土主張。
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.
週四，該法庭“否定了（中國立場文件中的）論點”。該文件主張，這一爭端“實質是南海部分島礁的領土主權問題”，因此超出了該法庭的管轄範圍。該法庭還未確定案件進入下一階段審理（將爲非公開審理）的日期。
