| Summary: | 碩士 === 國立政治大學 === 外交學系 === 105 === The islands of the South China Sea (SCS) not only have an abundance of resources, but also are strategically located. There are six major countries that claim territorial sovereignty over the islands, including the R.O.C. (Taiwan), Mainland China, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei. Although the U.S.A. is not one of the claimants, it is still involved in the SCS dispute because of its important interests in that region. Thus, the situation in the SCS has become more complicated.
Taiwan, Mainland China, and the Philippines all claim to have sovereignty over Huangyen Island in the SCS. The “Huangyen Island Incident” between Mainland China and the Philippines broke out in 2012, bringing tensions in SCS to a height. The Philippines thus resorted to the international Arbitral Tribunal. The tribunal didn’t make a ruling on sovereignty, but it made a ruling regarding the explanatory question of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. However, the
tit-for-tat over the sovereignty of the SCS islands continues.
Regarding the acquisition of territorial sovereignty, the arbitrator of the 1928 Palmas case indicated that, “the continuous and peaceful display of territorial sovereignty is as good as a title.” This is the exact the core of effectivités. To conclude the components, indicators and the legal effect of the effectivités, the thesis thus considered related principals and development of international law, and selected four rulings of international judicial bodies to analyze, as these four ruling are
highly-relevant to effectivités. Furthermore, based on the results of the above analysis, this thesis also analyzes the territorial sovereignty dispute over Huangyen Island among Taiwan, Mainland China, and the Philippines. The analysis concludes that Taiwan has the territorial sovereignty over Huangyen Island. Given the fact that Taiwan doesn't substantially control it, the thesis also tries to come up with advice to strengthen Taiwan’s claim.
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