Conflict And Coordination Between High Seas Protected Areas And The Principle Of High Seas Freedom And China’s Path Choice

With the improvement of countries’ marine activities in recent years,resource utilization and development activities in the high seas have increased significantly,resulting in more and more serious environmental pollution and destruction of biodiversity in the high seas.In order to realize the conservation of biodiversity and the sustainable use of resources in the high seas,the initiative of high seas protected areas has been put forward and put into practice.There is no unified and clear legal concept of high seas protected areas in the world.We can start from the existing concept of marine protected areas,refer to its relevant expressions,and preliminarily define the concept of high seas protected areas on the basis of analyzing the legal elements of high seas protected areas,that is,to protect the ecological environment and biological resources of the high seas,the international subject delimits specific protection areas and stipulates management measures outside the scope of national jurisdiction.High seas protected areas is to improve the environment.The theme of high seas protection is reflected in global legal documents.The emergence of high seas protected areas has certain legitimacy.On the basis of clarifying the concept of high seas protected areas,this paper further discusses the relationship between high seas protected areas and high seas freedom,which is also the key to solve the disputes on the establishment of high seas protected areas.Firstly,about the freedom of the high seas.See the practice of the existing high seas protected areas,this paper analyzes the restrictions of the management measures in the high seas protected areas on the principle of freedom of the high seas from the aspects of freedom of fishing,freedom of scientific research,freedom of navigation and dumping of waste.Most of the high seas protected areas take restrictive measures,which is bound to have an impact on the freedom of the high seas.However,the relationship between the two is not irreconcilable.Based on the limitations of the principle of freedom of the high seas and the development from "absolute freedom" to "relative freedom",the international law of the sea has restricted the freedom of the high seas,and the principle of freedom of the high seas itself also has self restriction,showing the trend of relativity of freedom of the high seas,and the absolute freedom of the high seas no longer exists.The management measures implemented in the high seas protected areas are not completely prohibited,but respect the reasonable activities carried out by countries in the protected areas,and pay attention to the rational utilization of high seas resources and the balance of protection relations.The relative trend of high seas liberalization and the establishment of high seas protected areas conform to the trend of high seas environmental protection and sustainable development of resources,and there is coordination between the two.Up to now,four "high seas protected areas" have been established in areas beyond national jurisdiction.Through the investigation of the practice of existing high seas protected areas,it is found that the existing international law and treaty mechanisms are difficult to restrict non parties,the selection standards of protected areas are not unified,and there is a lack of supervision mechanism.Through the above analysis,this paper puts forward some measures on how to correctly deal with the relationship between the high seas protected areas and the freedom of the high seas.First,adhere to the reasonable balance between the conservation and sustainable utilization of the high seas,and make rational use of the high seas resources on the basis of protection,so that countries can obtain marine interests and protect the oceans at the same time,Attract and encourage more countries to participate,so as to achieve more comprehensive and long-term protection of the high seas environment;Second,to clear the standards about high seas protected areas.In order to prevent the formation of blue enclosure movement,the high seas protected areas are not established at will,but should meet the relevant establishment standards.In principle,the establishment of high seas protected areas should comply with the principles of necessity,proportion,scientific evidence,differential protection and strengthening international cooperation.In terms of establishment elements,it is necessary to meet the substantive elements and procedural elements.The substantive elements include clarifying the scope and limits of high seas protected areas,evaluation standards,protection objectives and objects,protection measures and protection period,etc;Procedural requirements refer to the specific procedures to be followed in the establishment of high seas protected areas,including proposal,review,evaluation,decision-making,implementation,monitoring and supervision.Third,take corresponding measures to promote the participation of non contracting parties in the construction of high seas protected areas;Fourth,achieve coordination with the existing marine system and the marine interests of all countries.Due to the lack of clear legal basis for high seas protected areas,comply with the United Nations Convention;Think the maritime interests of coastal states,cannot damage the rights of these states under UNCLOS.Finally,in this context,there are both challenges and opportunities for China under the high seas protected areas and the high seas environment under the conflict of high seas freedom.Challenge means that it may have a negative impact on China’s fishing,deep-sea scientific research and resource exploration and development;The opportunity lies in: the establishment of high seas protected areas means the change of the existing marine utilization pattern and the redistribution and adjustment of global marine interests.Therefore,China should actively take measures to improve the domestic legal system on high seas protected areas and improve its participation ability,so as to change from a passive recipient of global marine governance to an active leader,so as to realize the strategic goal of China’s marine power.