“But what is clearly illegal is China’s insistence that the rig, though not in China’s territorial waters, is entitled to at least a 3-nautical mile defensive perimeter. It is using naval, cost guard, and fishing vessels to patrol at least that distance around the deep-sea drilling platform HS-981. Yet under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), the only way China would be permitted more than a 500-meter safety zone is if the rig were in China’s territorial waters… While China may not be expanding its historic claims, it is employing tailored coercion as a means of strengthening its physical and legal control.”
Dr. Patrick M. Cronin, Senior Advisor and Senior Director of the Asia-Pacific Security Program at the Center for a New American Security, said in his editorial “China’s problem with rules: Managing a reluctant stakeholder” posted at the War on the Rocks news website.