Resolution and Thinking on the Rights of Third Parties in the Joint Development of the South China Sea

Abstract

Most of the relevant cases involving the joint development of disputed sea resources in the international community are faced with the situation of properly resolving the rights of third parties. They have three main choices: reauthorization; second, direct recognition; third, disapproval; its advantages and disadvantages. Countries around the South China Sea have some overlapping sovereignty demands for some waters, resulting in some disputed waters. Therefore, if countries around the South China Sea want to jointly develop in the so-called "dis-puted waters", they also need to face a proper settlement of the rights of third parties. At present, there have been successful joint development cases in the South China Sea region, such as the joint development model of Malaysia and Vietnam, and the joint development model of Malaysia and Thailand. The proper settlement of the rights of three parties is worth learning from other countries around the South China Sea. This paper takes these two models as the starting point, trying to provide some ideas for other countries around the South China Sea to jointly develop them in the so-called "disputed waters".