A compendium of information on the branches of legal science, legal systems, institutions such as courts and juries, notable judges and jurists, legal concepts and ideas, major legal principles, and important documents and cases.

牛津法律大辞典 = The Oxford companion to law

The East China Sea is one of the last unexplored high-potential resource areas located near large markets. But the development of oil and gas in much of the area has been prevented for decades by conflicting claims to boundaries and islets in the area by China, Taiwan, and Japan. Competition between China and Japan for gas resources in the East China Sea is intensifying and hampering improved relations. However, conflict is not inevitable. A compromise-joint development-is motivated by the realization that a positive China-Japan relationship is simply too important to be destroyed by these disputes. Although both agree in principle on joint development, the two sides have different interpretations of what joint development means or implies, and what area should be jointly developed. The article spells out three basic agreements in principle that are necessary before details of any solution can be negotiated. The alternative to a solution is continued mutual suspicion, unstable relations, unmanaged and undeveloped resources, and an increasing frequency and intensity of incidents, fueling nationalist sentiments and resultant political conflict. Key words: territorial disputes, China-Japan relations, East Asian security Introduction Disputes over small islands and ocean space are usually ancillary at most to more fundamental geopolitical dialectics. However, in certain situations of big-power rivalry and competition for scarce petroleum resources, such issues may become the tail that wags the dog of international relations. The intensifying competition between China and Japan for gas resources in the East China Sea could become just such a situation. The East China Sea is thought to contain up to 100 billion barrels of oil equivalent. It is one of the last unexplored highpotential resource areas located near large markets. The development of oil and gas in much of the area has been prevented for decades by conflicting and overlapping claims to boundaries in the area by China, Taiwan, and Japan. Indeed, the Japanese government has until now refused to let companies explore and develop the resources in the area because it feared that these acts would adversely affect its relations and negotiations with China on boundaries. But China has been drilling ever closer to the "median" line between undisputed territory of both countries that has been unilaterally declared as the boundary by Japan, and is now producing gas from the Chunxiao field situated just on its side of that line. Tokyo has officially protested the drilling because it fears China will siphon off gas from its side of the "boundary" and is now considering allowing Teikoku Oil Company to drill on Japan's side of it. Just the possibility of such drilling by Teikoku has been fiercely protested by Beijing, which claims most of the East China Sea continental shelf. Conflict is not inevitable. China's June 2004 proposal to jointly develop the hydrocarbon resources of the East China Sea is an opportunity to cap rising tension, and at long last harvest the resources in the disputed area. This article describes and analyses the context of the dispute and relevant recent developments as well as the conflicting claims and related issues, and then proposes a range of possible conflict-avoidance measures and ultimate solutions. The Strategic Setting The East China Sea is a strategic area for China, Japan, and the United States.1 In the north it guards the entrance to the Tsushima Strait which leads to the Sea of Japan. On its south sits Taiwan, a main bone of contention between China and the United States. Moreover, China sees Japan as part of a U.S. attempt to contain China and is particularly incensed with Japan's pledged logistical and intelligence support of the United States in the event of a clash with China over Taiwan. It also is concerned with Japan's growing nationalism and assertiveness and fears it may culminate in a revival of Japanese militarism. …

The East China Sea Dispute: Context, Claims, Issues, and Possible Solutions

This books offers a comprehensive and innovative picture of the Community’s implementation of its international obligations in the field of the marine environment, looking at the participation of the EC and its member states in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and other relevant agreements.

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The European Community and Marine Environmental Protection in the International Law of the Sea: Implementing Global Obligations at the Regional Level

https://dr.ntu.edu.sg/bitstream/10356/86016/1/A%20review%20of%20offshore%20decommissioning%20regulations%20in%20five%20countries%20%e2%80%93%20strengths%20and%20weaknesses.pdf

A review of offshore decommissioning regulations in five countries – Strengths and weaknesses

In Maritime Security Cooperation in the Guinea: Prospects and Challenges , Kamal-Deen Ali provides ground-breaking analyses of the maritime security situation in the Gulf of Guinea

Maritime Security Cooperation in the Gulf of Guinea: Prospects and Challenges

Part I: Introduction. 1. Environmental Regulation of Oil and Gas in the 20th Century and Beyond: An Introduction and Overview Zhiguo Gao. Part II: International Regulation. 2. The Oil and Gas Industry in the Tangled Web of Environmental Regulations: Spider or Fly? A. Dias. 3. International Legal Regime for the Protection of the Marine Environment Against Pollution from Offshore Petroleum Activities S. Vinogradov, J.P. Wagner. 4. International Law on Offshore Abandonment: Recent Developments, Current Issues and Future Directions Zhiguo Gao. Part III: Regional Regulation. 5. European Union Environmental Law and Policy in Relation to Oil and Gas Activities D.A. Reid. 6. The European Energy Charter and Treaty and the Environment R. Griffith. 7. Regional Perspective on Trade and Environment: The European Union J. Scherer. Part IV: National Regulation. 8. Environmental Regulation of the Oil and Gas Industry in the U.S.A. J.E. Hickey, Jr. 9. The Oil Industry and the Extraterritorial Application of U.S. Environmental Law E.E. Smith. 10. Environmental Issues in International Oil and Gas Exploration and Production J.A. Kotvis. 11. Directions in European and the United Kingdom Environmental Policy and Legislations C. Napier. Part V: Corporate Environmental Management. 12. Approaches to Minimizing the Environmental and Social Impacts of Oil Development in the Tropics A.B. Rosenfeld, et al. 13. Quality Standards for Corporate Environmental Management P. Wenman. 14. Managing Environmental Legal Risks in Oil and Gas E&P Activities K. Armstrong. Part VI: Contractual, Downstream and Sustainability Issues. 15. Environmental Concepts in Petroleum Exploration Contracts I.L. Worika. 16. Downstream Energy: Resuming a Leadership Role J.C. Gault. 17. Sustainable Development of Petroleum Resources: The Rumpus and Resolution S.W. Onuosa.

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Environmental regulation of oil and gas

China and the LOS convention

The Legal Concept and Aspects of Joint Development in International Law

Recent Trends and New Directions in International Petroleum Exploration and Exploitation Agreements

(1994). International Petroleum Exploration and Exploitation Agreements: a Comprehensive Environmental Appraisal. Journal of Energy & Natural Resources Law: Vol. 12, No. 2, pp. 240-256.

Zhiguo Gao

Papers

Environmental regulation of oil and gas

China and the LOS convention

The Legal Concept and Aspects of Joint Development in International Law

Recent Trends and New Directions in International Petroleum Exploration and Exploitation Agreements

International Petroleum Exploration and Exploitation Agreements: a Comprehensive Environmental Appraisal