Dispute over the Applicable Scope of the Svalbard Treaty: A Chinese Lawyer's Perspective

• Author: Tianbao Qin
• Pages: 149-150

Svalbard Treaty 149

VIII JEAIL 1 (2015)

Tianbao Qin∗

The Svalbard Treaty, one of the few inter-governmental treaties in the Arctic area,

has drawn global attention. Currently, the dispute focuses mainly on its scope of

applicability. Different interpretations of the issue, directly affect each contracting

party

’

s interests in Svalbard, intensifying its debate. China signed the Svalbard

Treaty on July 1, 1925, becoming one of its first contracting parties. China has

attached great importance to non-discriminatory rights under the treaty, such as

    



’

s applicable scope has a profoundly

direct impact on China

’

s interests in the Arctic area. This research is to analyze the

Chinese position on the Svalbard Treaty and to demonstrate the legitimacy of China

’

s

viewpoint from a treaty interpretation perspective.

Keywords

Svalbard Treaty, Arctic Ocean, Applicable Scope, Treaty Interpretation,

Intertemporal Law, terra nullius, China

Dispute over the

Applicable Scope of the

Svalbard Treaty: A Chinese

Lawyer

’

s Perspective

∗ Luojia Professor of Law, Research Institute of Environmental Law (“RIEL”), Collaborative Innovation Center of

Territorial Sovereignty and Maritime Rights of Wuhan University, China. LL.B./LL.M.(Wuhan), Dr. iur. (Wuhan

& Frankfurt). ORCID: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4932-9213. This paper was supported by research projects, “Le-

gal Issues on Biodiversity beyond National Jurisdiction” commissioned by China Institute for Marine Affairs, and

“Law and Practice of Establishment and Management of Protected Areas in High Seas” commissioned by China

Association of Marine Affairs. The author thanks Mr. Qingchuan Zhang, LLM candidate at RIEL for his assistance

in writing of the paper. Views and errors expressed in this paper, if any, are solely the author’s responsibility and do

not represent the official position of the P.R. China. The author may be contacted at: fxyqtb@whu.edu.cn / Address:

Luojiashan, Wuchang District, Wuhan, Hubei Province, 430072, China.

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.14330/jeail.2015.8.1.07