Okinotorishima and the Rock/Island Controversy and Other Maritime Disputes in the East and South China Seas

Introduction

In 2009, the dispute between Japan and China/Korea regarding whether Okinotorishima is a rock or an island came to the attention of the rest of the world. Okinotorishima is indeed an uninhabited flyspeck located to the east of the Ryukyu Islands and the question is whether the insular feature is entitled to a 200-n. mile zone (and adjoining continental shelf beyond 200-n. miles if it exists) or only a 12-n. mile territorial sea. This came to the forefront in 2009 because of Japan’s submission of its proposed outer limit of the continental shelf to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf and the public reaction of China and Korea. The Okinotorishima situation will be the entrée to a broader discussion on the role of the Commission as regards the submissions and information presented to it by the various East and South Asian States in 2009 and the impact of the actions by the regional States as regards the maritime disputes in the East and South China Seas.

About the Speaker

Professor McDorman joined the Faculty of Law in 1985 and was promoted to Professor in 2001. His teaching areas include public international law, international trade law, international ocean and environmental law, and private international law (conflicts of law). He taught Canadian constitutional law for many years and has also taught Canadian environmental law and comparative Asian law. He has a cross-appointment with the Department of Geography and is an Associate of the Centre for Asia-Pacific Initiatives. Professor McDorman has been a visiting professor at institutions in Thailand, Sweden, the Netherlands and Canada. He has over 100 publications in the areas of ocean law and policy, international trade law and comparative constitutional law. Since 2000, he has been the editor-in-chief of Ocean Development and International Law: The Journal of Marine Affairs. He has undertaken a variety of projects for the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, including: the drafting of legislation, conducting workshops and report writing on fisheries and fisheries trade. He has also written reports for the governments of Canada, Quebec and British Columbia. From 2002 to 2004, Professor McDorman was Academic-in- Residence with the Bureau of Legal Affairs of the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade in Ottawa. In the spring of 2007, he was the Fulbright Visiting Chair in Canada-U.S. Relations at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, D.C.