Earlier this month, Beijing designated the Taiwan Strait and several areas around Taiwan to be ¡°coastal waters.¡± As many Japanese leaders and political figures have stated in the past, Taiwan¡¯s security is Japan¡¯s security. Beijing¡¯s latest maritime power grab is a prime example.
For those not familiar with the (UNCLOS), China¡¯s designation constitutes a unilateral declaration of authority to control and regulate all maritime activities within those waters. Articles 8-11 of UNCLOS give coastal nations far more authority over their ¡°Internal Waters.¡± Those are the waters to the landward side of the geographic baseline that marks the start of the 12 nautical mile limit of their territorial waters. Internal waters include ports, rivers, inland waterways and the ¡°Near Shore¡± or ¡°Coastal Waters,¡± if you use Beijing¡¯s term, that extend from the low water mark out to the baseline.
Coastal states enjoy the same authority and sovereignty over those waters as they do their land territory. For example, warships and commercial shipping enjoy innocent passage through territorial waters but cannot enter ¡°inland, coastal¡± or ¡°near shore¡± waters without the coastal state¡¯s permission. In fact, Beijing¡¯s declaration stated specifically that ¡°the waters east of Taiwan are our coastal waters where we are present, exercise jurisdiction and govern.¡±
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