Research On The Legal Issues Concerning Protection Of Underwater Cultural Heritage In The South China Sea

As a large marine country,China has a vast ocean area and many underwater cultural heritages.Especially in the South China Sea,which is the only way of the ancient "maritime Silk Road",there are extremely rich underwater cultural heritage,mostly including shipwreck relics,shipborne cultural relics and some living sites eroded by sea water.This paper mainly introduces that in the case of disputes in the South China Sea,the ownership,jurisdiction and commercial development of UCH conflict are difficult to reconcile.At the same time,due to the vague relevant provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and the Convention for the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage,it is difficult to achieve the purpose of protecting UCH in the South China Sea through international conventions.Therefore,it is necessary to properly protect the UCH by reaching a cooperative protection mechanism in the South China Sea.Firstly,the first part of this paper introduces the definition and characteristics of UCH,the importance of protecting UCH in of the South China Sea and the legal difficulties in protecting UCH in the South China Sea.UCH has the dual attributes.And UCH in the South China Sea is facing the risk of theft,destruction,and illegal auction.Therefore,it is necessary to take measures to protect it.However,in the South China Sea,there are conflicts in the ownership,jurisdiction and commercial development of UCH,which has become a legal dilemma for the protection of UCH.The second part of this paper points out that in the case of various rights conflicts in the protection of UCH in the South China Sea,it cannot be protected through the existing international conventions.International conventions related to the protection of UCH mainly include the United Nations Convention on the Law of the sea and the Convention for the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage.Both avoid the provisions of ownership,and there are many ambiguities and contradictions in the provisions of jurisdiction.Due to the unclear provisions and the fact that most countries around the South China Sea have not acceded to the Convention for the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage,the binding force of the international convention is insufficient.At the same time,their dispute settlement mechanism cannot play a role.The third part of this paper analyzes the legal issues in the conflict of rights in the South China Sea.First,the reason for the ownership conflict is that the South China Sea countries have different legislation on UCH.Therefore,by analyzing the legal characterization of UCH,it should be sunken objects.Based on this,it can be analyzed that both preemption and source nationalism ignore the rights of the original owner,and the ownership of the original owner also has its shortcomings.Second,on the issue of jurisdiction,the existence of disputes in the South China Sea makes the scope of jurisdiction of various countries overlap,and there is a trend of jurisdiction spread in national legislation.In the process of formulating the Convention for the protection of UCH,the spread of jurisdiction has aroused the concern of some maritime powers,and finally formed a compromise result,that is,the coordinator system.Third,on the issue of commercial development,the attitude of countries involved in the South China Sea dispute towards commercial development is also different due to various social and economic reasons.At the same time,there is a debate in the archaeological community on whether commercial development should be carried out.On this issue,careful consideration should be given according to the situation of various countries.The fourth part discusses the construction of UCH protection cooperation mechanism.First,it is feasible to build a cooperation mechanism.The interim arrangement of UNCLOS provides a legal basis for cooperation,and the relevant cooperation platforms in the South China Sea provide cooperation support.Secondly,it introduces the practice of the international community on UCH protection cooperation,from which it comes to the enlightenment that countries should weaken the conflict of interest,strengthen the willingness of cooperation,and enrich the content of cooperation.Finally,it puts forward the specific path of constructing the cooperation mechanism.The relevant countries in the South China Sea should establish the principle of "shelving disputes and joint protection",coordinate domestic legislation on ownership,jointly establish the corresponding coordination country system,and prohibit commercial development.