No Room for Change

With most stances strengthening their roots, the committee finally discusses dispute settlement mechanisms, reports Tulica Bhattacharya from the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).

The Delegate of the People’s Republic of China (China), proposed discussing maritime delimitations stating that “It is a systematic process and is integral to solve the dispute.” He added that though the delimitation would be in accordance to Article 74 and 83 of the United Nations Convention of the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), “China’s legal basis is clear and it believes that the arbitration stands null and void.” However, the Delegate of the Russian Federation stated “The issue at hand is peculiar and requires to be dealt separately. Maritime delimitation would fail since it would dishearten one side and increase the conflicts.” The Delegate of the Republic of Philippines suggested to categorise the South China Sea as disputed and undisputed regions in order to draw a more concise inference and administrative convenience.

The council then shifted the focus to discuss methods to resolve the ongoing conflict. The Delegate of the United States of America suggested that the process of resource extraction must be monitored by the UN to avoid exploitation of the resources at South China Sea.The Delegate of the Republic of China (Taiwan) proposed the creation of a joint development programme, which aimed at establishing peaceful co-existence. According to the Delegate, the programme intends to form a Joint Commission which would settle maritime disputes and overlook the freedom of navigation and free trade in the South China Sea. Although viable points were brought onto the platform by the Delegate of Taiwan, the Delegate of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay constantly questioned the same due to the recognition of Taiwan on international levels. Thus, disregarding these solutions, the Delegate retrieved to discussing the Arbitration and its establishment as a “non-peaceful manner of solving the dispute”.

With the committee proceeding towards a conclusion, the initially gaping differences in opinions seems to amalgamate into a customised yet a cooperative means of calming the storm at sea. By cutting the cloth to its finest measurements, the challenge of compromise awaits the final decision.