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2016 Taiwan Capital MUN

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Table of Contents Letter from Secretary General…………………………………………2

Letter from Head of Academics………………………..……………….3

Letter from Chair……………………………………………….………4

Committee Introduction…………………………..…………………….5

Topic I: The Escalation of Terrorism and Nations Resolution…….…6

Statement of Problem…………………………………..………………...6

History and Discussion………………………………………………….17

Past Action………………………………………………………………19

Case Study of Belgium………………………………………………….19

Possible Solutions……………………………………………………….21

Question to Consider……………………………………………………23

References………………………………………………………………23

Topic II: Resource Exploiture and Conflicts Resolution in South

China Sea……………………………………………………………….25

Statement of Problem…………………………………………………...25

History and Discussion………………………………………………….26

Past Action………………………………………………………………28

Key Players……………………………………………………………...29

Possible Solutions……………………………………………………….32

Questions to consider…………………………………………………...33

Endnote………………………………………………………………….34

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Letter from Secretary General

Welcome respected representatives! My name is Tim Wu, and I am the

Secretary-General of Taiwan Capital Model United Nations 2016. On behalf of the

organizing department, I sincerely invite all of you to take part in Taiwan Capital

Model United Nations 2016.

Recently, the tremendous refugee influx has swept into Europe. The relationship

between refugees and host countries has been a stalemate and conundrum. The rights

of refugees and the effect they cause in years to come are challenges to host countries.

Following the development of humanity, the utilization of sustainable energy has been

a method of benefiting the global community. Hence, to make a balance between

utilization and social benefit is a tough issue. Conflicts in South China Sea is the issue

we acknowledge for decades. How to solve it and to combat the terrorism will be

discussed by all the delegates in Security Council. The world has been constantly

changed, and I have changed from a curious beginner stepping into MUN to a deeply

passionate person. I believe that only with the broader perspective and more

innovative way of thoughts can be able to face uncertain future.

Owing to the participation and devotion of all the delegates and staff members, I

remain convinced that TCMUN will be shinning in the future.

Tim Wu

Secretary-General of Taiwan Capital Model United Nations 2016

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Letter from Head of Academics

Distinguished Delegates,

Greetings, on behalf of the Department of Academics, we’re privileged to have you

here as the participants of Taiwan Capital Model United Nations 2016. We esteem it a

great honor to serve as co-chairs in TCMUN 2016, and we are looking forward to

both your active and vocal participation.

This year, we set up three committees; each will address influential issues in various

aspects. In the United Nations Security Council, we will focus on escalating tension

and controversy over South China Sea, where neighboring countries are striving

themselves to claim sovereignty on disputed marine areas; additionally, fears have

ratcheted up as a result of the increasing terrorist attacks, consequently spur a wave of

global awareness. Both of the issues aforementioned will be discussed in UNSC. The

Economic and Financial council, as known as GA2, will put emphasis on renewable

energy and come up with innovative ideas toward global community. Moreover, the

fatal flood-tide of human lamentation, surging haphazardly across the Mediterranean,

has not suddenly materialized out of nowhere; hence, The United Nations High

Commissioner for Refugees, also referred to as UNHCR, will be debating over the

unprecedented havoc of humanity.

We wish the best to you with your preparations and sincerely hopes that the TCMUN

2016 could be the conference where you learn, enjoy, and have fun. Your presence at

our annual conference will be a great compliment to us.

We earnestly wish all of you to enjoy the conference!

Cordially,

Eddie Chein

Department of Academics

Taiwan Capital Model United Nations 2016

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Letter from Chair

Hi delegates, I’m Lia Chen, your chair in Taiwan Capital Model United Nations 2016

Security Council.

I’m now sophomore in National Taiwan University, majoring in law. I’ve been in UC

Berkeley studying political science and international relations, and also took courses

in NTU grad school of political science. Now I’m approaching on international law,

medical, pharmaceutical and public health law, also being in the delegation of

international moot court.

I started my MUN business in high school. At first, I couldn’t even fluently

communicated in English, not to mention negotiating with blocs. Holding tons of

ideas and opinions, I reached the podium and gave my first speech in MUN. Out of

my surprise, many delegates came to ask for allying. After that, I realized that the

language skill is just a media to express what in your brain. I tried my best to improve

my English and other foreign languages and both approaching on international

politics. Modal United Nations sparked my crush in international law and political

science, and I wish you to enjoy the experience and harvest as I did! See you guys in

four days.

Sincerely,

Lia Chen

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Committee Introduction

Mandate and Powers

According to the Charter of the United Nations Article 24, “In order to ensure prompt

and effective action by the United Nations, its Members confer on the Security Council

primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security.” Which as the

substantial method of fulfilling the first purpose of UN: “ to maintain international peace and

security; to take effective collective measures for the prevention and removal of threats to the

peace; for the suppression of acts of aggression or other breaches of the peace; to bring about

by peaceful means and in conformity with the principles of justice and international law,

adjustment or settlement of international disputes or situations which might lead to a breach

of the peace.”

Among the six principal organs of the United Nations, Security Council was given

primary responsibility to fulfill the assigned goal by meeting and, if necessary, taking

measures to authorize the use of force whenever peace is threatened, which means, compares

to other UN organs, Security council’s mandates have absolute legal bindings.

With the given mandate, SC should begin to investigate situations at an early stage, before

erupting into inter-state conflict. It is encouraged to make recommendations for peaceful

settlement at any point that it deems helpful. When a conflict inevitably erupts, SC can take a

variety of measures to resolve the hostilities. Either Members States or Non-Member States

can bring disputes before SC, as long as the State is a party to the issue.

To address a conflict, the Council would usually first recommend the involved parties to

reach consensus and strike an agreement in peaceful means. However, if the conflict or

dispute evolved into serious hostilities, SC could apply enforcement measure or even military

operations in order to bring the conflict to an end as depicted in Chapter VII. 5 As mentioned

in Article 53, the SC may also collaborate with regional arrangements or agencies under the

application of enforcement measures. Aside from aforementioned measures, SC may also

“establish such subsidiary organs as it deems necessary for the performance of its functions”.

Composition and Voting

According to Article 23, the composition of SC consists of fifteen Members of the United

Nations. The Council consists of ten non-permanent members and five permanent members

— China, France, Russia, United Kingdom, and United Satiates of America. The ten other

nonpermanent members are elected on a regional basis by the General Assembly for a two-

year term. Each member of the Security Council has one representative, however, a negative

vote by any one of the five permanent members vetoes the decision.

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Topic I.

The Escalation of Terrorism and Nations Resolution

Statement of Problem

Introduction

No matter where a major terrorist attack occurs in the world, the feelings it elicits when

one hears of it are universal - revulsion, shock, dread, and uncertainty. Uncertainty

reigns supreme in the immediate aftermath of a terrorist attack, with regards to such

things as who were the perpetrators, how did they go about planning a major attack

undetected, and finally, was the terror act an isolated instance or the first of a series.

Terrorism has not yet received a precise definition on international law level, so it is

only used as political description. Such as in 1994, the UN General Assembly has

consistently condemned terrorist acts by following sentence: "Criminal acts intended

or calculated to provoke a state of terror in the public, a group of persons or particular

persons for political purposes are in any circumstance unjustifiable, whatever the

considerations of a political, philosophical, ideological, racial, ethnic, religious or any

other nature that may be invoked to justify them."

Terrorism has been existing for decades, but not until recently getting a clearer face.

Last year, Paris attacks and Beirut bombings have rekindled the public concern to these

hostile actions of the targeting of the general population after 911 in 2000. In

International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism, article 2

(1)(b), we can finally see a precise definition of terrorism:

“Any other act intended to cause death or serious bodily injury to a civilian, or to any

other person not taking an active part in the hostilities in a situation of armed conflict,

when the purpose of such act, by its nature or context, is to intimidate a population, or

to compel a government or an international organization to do or to abstain from doing

any act.”

Recalling the horrific multiple attacks which took place in Paris on November 13 by

suspected Islamist radicals- made it the worst terrorist attack in Europe in a decade. It

was estimated that 132 lives were lost and countless people injured. Nevertheless,

several attacks have taken continuously place in Lebanon (the 2015 Beirut bombings),

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Mali (the 2015 Bamako hotel attack), Egypt and many other Middle East and African

countries.

These actions have brought about global awareness, besides the fact that United Nations

has dedicated much effort to surmounting such hot potatoes, countries which are

pertinent to these onslaughts are all staying on the highest alerts. For instance, United

Nations has adopted eighteen instruments against international terrorism since 1990s;

these counter-terrorism mandates somehow were inefficient in decreasing the extension

of terrorism. With all related issues mentioned above, some may still be skeptical about

whether terrorism will affect them or not if they are living in a peaceful country far

away from the chaos.

As a matter of fact, it does matter, what's worse, it's affecting the world gradually in all

aspects. Combating terrorism is not only to follow the first purpose in article one in UN

Charter of maintaining international peace and security, but relating to global economy,

international relations, humanitarian issues and whole stabilization. Take European

Union’s attitude from the potential retrieval of Schengen Agreement, the escalation of

terrorism did cause the shudder of public trust and risks of international relations.

By all means, the top priority job for now is for everyone to stick together, thus,

canvassing various opinions and solve the problems.

Global Terrorism

Asia

The 2015 Bangkok bombing

On 17 August 2015, a bombing took place in Bangkok, Thailand, killing 20 people

and injuring 125. Surveillance footage showed a suspect leaving a backpack at the

scene shortly before the explosion. As of 30 August 2015, the suspect in the

surveillance footage had not been arrested and no group or individual has claimed

responsibility for the attack. On 26 September, police announced that the primary

suspect is in police custody. Prior to this bombing incident, there were two other

bombings in Thailand in the same year. In February 2015, two bombs exploded on the

Siam BTS Station, injuring three people. The attack was believed to have been

politically motivated. In April 2015, a car bomb exploded in Ko Samui, injuring

seven.

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African countries

the Middle East

countries

As stated by Malaysia Airlines, no flight was canceled to Bangkok. After the travel

advisory for Bangkok was raised to "red alert" by Hong Kong, which prevented the

purchase of compulsory travel insurance, the number of tourists from major Asian

markets dropped by 10%. Upon seeing the diminishing tourists, we are sure to

acknowledge that terrorism plays a crucial role in economics in short term even

though some may be dubious about the significant links between the two. As a matter

of fact, there is no denying that it does cause harms to the global markets.

The 2015 Beirut Bombings

On 12 November 2015, two suicide bombers detonated explosives in southern suburb

of Beirut, Lebanon, that is inhabited mostly by Shia Muslims. The bombings were the

worst terrorist attack in Beirut since the end of the Lebanese Civil War. Statics of the

death toll range from 37 to 431, and the slaughter was claimed responsibility by Isis

for the attacks.

Africa and The Middle East

Since both Africa and the Middle East have been notorious for their terrorist

organizations all across the globe, hence, the main terrorist’s groups which manipulate

these regions often use similar methods to reach their goals. What’s more, there are

much relevance between the two regions. Upon seeing the chart below, we can see that

the majority of the attacks have taken place in Africa and the Middle East, which exactly

points out the urgency of staying on high alerts with these member states.

Below is a table of the deadliest attacks in 2015 across the planet.

Location Date Death Toll Perpetrator

Baga, Nigeria January 3 Reports range

from 150 to 2,000.

Boko Haram

Yemen March 20 137 Islamic State

Kenya April 2 At least 147 Al-Shabab

Cameroon Feb. 4 – 5 At least 91 Boko Haram

Nigeria June 30 and July 1 At least 145 Boko Haram

Nigeria September 20 At least 80 Likely Boko Haram

Egypt October 31 224 Islamic State

Syria June 25 At least 154 Islamic State

Iraq July 17 120 Islamic State

Iraq August 13 At least 76 Islamic State

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In the light of a report published by National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism

and Responses to Terrorism (START), the number of strikes killing more than 100

civilians averaged about 4.2 per year between 1978 and 2013. In 2014, that figure

skyrocketed more than 500 percent, to 26. In the first half of 2015, START counted

11 more. Below is a table of Numbers of Times More than 100 People Were Killed

by Terrorist Attacks in a Single Country.

Europe

January’s Charlie Hebdo attacks

On 7 January 2015, two brothers, Saïd and Chérif Kouachi, forced their way into the

offices of satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in Paris. Armed with assault rifles and other

weapons, they killed 11 people and injured 11 others in the building. After leaving, they

killed a French National Police officer outside the building. The gunmen identified

themselves as belonging to the Islamist terrorist group Al-Qaeda's branch in Yemen,

who took responsibility for the attack. Several related attacks also followed in the Île-

de-France region, where a further five were killed and 11 wounded.

The November 2015 Paris Attacks

On the evening of 13 November 2015, a series of coordinated attacks occurred

in Paris and its northern suburb, Saint-Denis. Shootings and bomb blasts left 130

people dead and hundreds wounded, with more than 100 in a critical condition. Many

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considered these terrorist’s attacks as an aftermath of the Charlie Hebdo attacks, which

significantly pointed out that it is important for nations to deal with this problem in time

and to prevent similar events ever from happening again. The attacks were also

described by President Francois Hollande as an "act of war" organized by the Islamic

State militant group.

Summary of Charlie Hebdo and Paris Attacks

It is no exaggeration to say that France is emerging from one of its worst security crises

in decades after the terrorists’ attacks mentioned above, carried out by gunmen which

brought bloodshed to the capital Paris and its surrounding areas. Ever since then, the

whole European Union has been dedicating itself to come up with possible measures,

ideas, and practical solutions in order to prevent other attacks.

2015 Copenhagen shootings

Five weeks after the Charlie Hebdo massacre which left 20 people dead, another series

of deadly shootings rocked the otherwise quiet Copenhagen. On 14,15 February 2015,

shootings occurred in Denmark. Two victims and the suspected perpetrator were killed,

while five police officers were wounded. The first shooting took place at a seminar

called "Art, Blasphemy and Freedom of Expression", where one civilian was killed and

three police officers were wounded by a gunman. Swedish artist Lars Vilks was among

the speakers and is thought to have been the main target because of his drawings of

Muhammad. The second shooting took place outside the city in Krystalgade where a

gunman killed a Jewish man on security duty during a bat mitzvah celebration, and

wounded two police officers. Danish government has put its country on the highest alert,

and has been investigating the case.

Summary of terrorism in Europe

After hearing about the tragic slaughter, many people were surprised by the

“unpredictable” series of killings burning all over the European countries. However,

very few have known that Jihadists with Balkan small arms were shooting in France in

1995 up to the present. Experts relate to the public the fact that their governments have

neglected such issues of high importance for a long time. If the authorities had

cooperated with one another and had tried tending to the overall situation with

higher efficiency, specialists believe that the condition would not have been so bad.

Though the die has been cast, that doesn’t mean there’ s nothing for the governments to

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do. By strengthening the connections between every nations and federal authorities,

processing the procedures of organizing a series of multilateral laws against specified

automatic weapons (also known as stricken but cross-national firearms legislations),

surmounting difficulties for customs set on borders to supervise any possible illicit

actions being made, and so on. Where there is a will there is a way, combatting terrorism

should always be in first priority and thus, the law enforcements in EU should be put

on the front burner.

How Terrorism Affects on Economics

Some economics experts claim there is a positive link between the economics growth

and terrorism; others suggest that is an inverse association; and some have found no

statistically significant relationships. In spite of that there are still arguments about

whether there is a significant relationship between the two. What the main point is, is

that terrorist’s attacks have either directly or indirectly affected our lives. Think about

the slain victims, the wounded people, and civilians living under brutal governments or

terrorist organization. They are all living on tenterhooks. In addition to their bad living

conditions (lack of revenues to support themselves), vast amounts of questions also

surfaced, such as medical care, humanitarian, education, gender inequality, corruption,

and so on. We can say without exaggeration that terrorism does affect the world not

only in economics but also in many aspects.

Direct and Indirect Costs of Terrorism

According to International Monetary Fund (IMF) researchers Barry Johnston and Oana

Nedelescu in their 2005 paper "The Impact of Terrorism on Financial Markets," acts of

terrorism inflict direct and indirect economic costs. The direct economic costs are

shorter-term in nature and include the destruction of life and property, responses from

emergency services providers, restoration of systems and infrastructure, and the

provision of temporary living assistance. The indirect costs of terrorism can be

significantly larger as they affect the economy in the medium term by undermining

consumer and investor confidence.

Terrorism can also have a long-term cost by reducing productivity because of increased

security measures, higher insurance premiums, and the increased costs of financial and

other counterterrorism regulations. To appreciate just one aspect of these incalculable

costs, consider the billions of hours expended by millions of passengers in airport

security lines over the years. The lost time is the price paid for rigorous security checks

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developed after the 9/11 attacks.

Refugees Problems Incident to Terrorism

As the conflict in Syria heads towards the 6th year, millions of refugees are caught in

alarmingly deteriorating conditions, facing an even bleaker future. With no solution to

the conflict in sight, most of the 4 million Syrian refugees in Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan,

Iraq and Egypt see no prospect of returning home in the near future, and have little

opportunity to restart their lives in exile. Inside Syria, the situation is deteriorating

rapidly. There’s great concern about the extremely dire humanitarian situation in Madaya

and other besieged areas, and distressing reports of people at risk of starving to death.

UNHCR estimates that there may be up to 400,000 2 vulnerable people including

children and the elderly who need not only financial assistance but also humanitarian

aids.

Today, some 13.5 million people inside Syria require humanitarian assistance. That is

not simply a statistic. These are 13.5 million individual human beings whose lives and

futures are in jeopardy. Many citizens from around the world are wondering how they

could assist those in need, being deprived of education and traumatized by the horrors

so far they have experienced.

Though there are no concrete regulations when implementing such aids to the victims,

there are still some principles for people to follow until there is a diplomatic solution to

the fighting. When trying to help out aid should include 3 :

- Unimpeded and sustained access for humanitarian organizations to bring

immediate relief to all those in need inside Syria

- Humanitarian pauses and unconditional, monitored ceasefires to allow food and

other urgent assistance to be delivered to civilians, vaccinations and other health

campaigns, and for children to return to school

- A cessation of attacks on civilian infrastructure — so that schools and hospitals

and water supplies are kept safe

- Freedom of movement for all civilians and the immediate lifting of all sieges by

all parties

- A cessation of attacks on civilian infrastructure — so that schools and hospitals

and water supplies are kept safe

- Freedom of movement for all civilians and the immediate lifting of all sieges by

all parties

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Weakening the Trust Among Nations

Schengen Agreement

When the Schengen Agreement was signed in 1985, the sponsors (France, West

Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg) envisioned a system in

which people and goods could move from one country to another without barriers.

This vision was largely realized: Since its implementation in 1995, the Schengen

Agreement eliminated border controls between its signatories and created a

common visa policy for 28 countries.

The treaty was a key player in the creation of a federal Europe. By eliminating

border controls, member states

gave up a basic element of

national sovereignty. The

agreement also required a

significant degree of trust among

its signatories, because it put the

responsibility for checking

foreigners' identities and baggage

on the country of first entry into

the Schengen area. Once people

have entered a Schengen country,

they can move freely across most

of Europe without being faced

with any additional supervision.

The Schengen Agreement was implemented in the 1990s, when the end of the Cold

War and the prospect of permanent economic prosperity led EU members to give

up national sovereignty in many sensitive areas. The creation of the Eurozone is

probably the most representative agreement of the period. But several things have

changed in Europe since then, and member states are beginning to question many

of the decisions that were made during the preceding years of optimism.

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The most important change of the past six

years is probably Europe's economic

crisis and its byproduct, the rise of

nationalist political parties. Not far

behind, though, is the substantial increase

in the number of asylum seekers in

Europe, which is putting countries on the

European Union's external borders (such

as Greece and Italy) and countries in the

Continent's economic core (such as

France and Germany) under significant

pressure.

This is not the first time the Schengen Agreement has been questioned, but the

combination of a rising number of asylum seekers, stronger nationalist parties and

fragile economic recovery are leading governments and political groups across

Europe to request the redesign, and in some cases the abolishment, of the Schengen

Agreement.

Even though, the authorities claimed that Schengen Agreement would not corrupt

in the following years. However, due to the problems of vast amount of refugees

streaming into the area which thus led the whole area to an uncertain future. With

the economics growth fading, tensions among people growing and terrorist’ attacks

spreading all over the region. There is no exaggeration to say that combating

terrorism is an urgent matter among the problems mentioned above.

Balkans: Smugglers of Weapons for Extremists

Compared to the United States, where 33,000 people are killed by firearms a year, more

than 11,000 of them in homicides, Europe has long been seen as a haven from gun

violence. Mass shootings on the continent—though not unknown—are extremely rare.

Nevertheless, Europe is now facing a new threat. Many weapons on Europe's black

market come via the Balkans.

“They don’t have to have a big terrorist network to support them, they can go out

and buy one [firearms]on the street. That is what the police in Europe are facing.”,

Brian Donald, chief of staff of Europol, the E.U.-wide policing organization said

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The terrorists in the Paris attacks allegedly used such weapons. Not only locals but also

people across the globe considered how military-grade weapons made their way into

the French capital after January’s Charlie Hebdo attacks. Which indeed has arisen fear

and confusion among both local and neighbored countries’ citizens. What’s worse,

problems have only worsened since the massacre on November 13 unleashed by ISIS

supporters. In the wake of the latest attacks, fear only intensified—speaking to the

French Parliament on November 19, 2015, Prime Minister Manuel Valls

also warned that ISIS could use biological or chemical weapons to attack France.

Rather than the explosives used in major attacks in Madrid and London a decade ago,

guns have increasingly become the weapon of choice for extremists. The first notable

incident was in 2012, when Mohamed Merah shot and killed three soldiers and four

Jewish civilians in the French city of Toulouse. In May 2014 Mehdi Nemmouche shot

up the Brussels Jewish Center, killing four. In January 2015, three gunmen shot dead

17 people in separate attacks at the offices of satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo and a

kosher supermarket. The following month, a 22-year-old Danish man sprayed a

Copenhagen café with bullets, killing one, and later shot dead a Jewish security guard.

Not to mention that there have also been several foiled attacks involving guns.

Besides such massacres and problems mentioned above. Below are questions remained

unsolved: According to officials, some 5,000 Europeans have joined ISIS and other

jihadist groups in Iraq and Syria. The increase in foreign fighters returning from

conflicts abroad flies, which exactly terrifies people and directly weakens the trust

between countries. With illegal weapons flowing freely through Europe’s 26-country

Schengen zone, process for terrorists transferring arms within European countries

becomes much easier, hence, it diminishes their risks of being caught by the police. Let

alone that it allows near frictionless travel across borders, and that European leaders are

lagging behind in cracking down on the trade. As a further matter, nations are having

hardships for coming to an agreement on sub-regional firearm legislation. Europe

Commission has been voting on and implementing lots of laws against specified

automatic weapons being possessed though. Thus, even if all mentioned above have

been done, practical measures executed by the authorities trying to cope with these

challenges remain unknown and fragile up to this time.

“There are links between organized crime and terrorists, and a route that goes from

the Balkans.”, Christophe Crépin, spokesman for France’s national police union, said.

The illegal arms trade from the Balkans is surely a security risk that affects all of Europe.

Yet some consider it was neither bombs, chemical, nor other radioactive weapons that

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caused so much death and destruction, but comparatively simple rifles and assault

weapons, tools of war that have already left their mark on France, and the rest of Europe.

Firearms Regulations 4

Comprehensive firearm control legislation provides a framework to regulate “objects”

(state-owned firearms and firearms in the hands of civilians), “access to firearms”

(establishing terms, conditions, restrictions and requirements for the legitimate

possession and use of firearms), and “users of firearms” (manufacturers, dealers,

gunsmiths, brokers, owners, users, etc.).

Although most countries have a normative framework addressing most of the above

indicated areas, firearm control legislation can be highly varied from country to country.

Firearm ownership often requires a license or authorization, issued by a competent

authority, and subject to a set of criteria and requirements, including firearm training,

competency certificates or criminal background checks, etc.

National legislations are also extremely varied as far as other aspects of the firearms

control regime are concerned, such as record keeping, marking and transfer regulations.

Most countries have established a licensing system for the manufacturing and transfer

of firearms, but these laws are often outdated, inadequate or lack the necessary practical

and administrative procedures to be effectively implemented.

In addition to any national legislation on private firearm purchase and ownership, States

parties to the Protocol against the Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms,

Their Parts and Components and Ammunition, supplementing the United Nations

Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, are obliged to establish strict

transfer control measures and enforcement provisions, and to introduce as criminal

offences, the intentional illicit manufacturing and trafficking of firearms, their parts and

components and ammunition, as well as falsifying or illicitly obliterating, removing or

altering the marking(s) on firearms.

Identifying the effect of legislation on access to firearms requires some caution: stricter

legislation may not in fact reduce firearm access in the absence of enforcement.5 Often,

it is the lack of adequate human and financial resources and technical capacities that

can seriously hamper the effective implementation of a comprehensive firearms control

regime, and which needs to be taken into account when planning to amend or modernize

national firearms legislation.

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History and Discussion

International counter-terrorism

United States of America: Patriot act

After September 11 attacks, the US congress rushed to pass counter terrorism

legislation to strengthen security controls, which gave birth to “Uniting and

Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and

Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001” (Herein Patriot Act), including ten sections to produce

fully protect from terrorist acts.

Title I: Enhancing domestic security against terrorism

Title II: Surveillance procedures

Title III: Anti-money-laundering to prevent terrorism

Title IV: Border security

Title V: Removing obstacles to investigating terrorism

Title VI: Victims and families of victims of terrorism

Title VII: Increased information sharing for critical infrastructure protection

Title VIII: Terrorism criminal law

Title IX: Improved intelligence

Title X: Miscellaneous

However, Patriot Act severely violates human’s fundamental rights, for example, the

indefinite, arbitrary and unlawful detentions of immigrants and foreigners; permitting

the law enforcement officers to search domestic places or business with our warrants

or the consent and knowledge of the owner; allowing intelligence service to

surveillance communication devices and financial records without a court order;

expanding access of law enforcement agencies to business records, including library

and financial records.

May 26, 2011, President Barack Obama signed the PATRIOT Sunsets Extension Act

of 2011, a four-year extension of three key provisions in the USA PATRIOT Act:

roving wiretaps, searches of business records, and conducting surveillance of "lone

wolves"—individuals suspected of terrorist-related activities not linked to terrorist

groups.

Guantanamo bay

Guantanamo Bay detention camp is a US military prison located near Cuba. In 2002,

the US Secretary of Defense said that this camp was established to detain

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extraordinarily dangerous people, to interrogate detainees in an optimal setting, and

to prosecute detainees for war crimes.

With time goes by, Guantanamo Bay detention camp became being outside U.S. legal

jurisdiction. The Bush administration asserted that detainees were not entitled to any of

the protections of the Geneva Convention. Also the US Supreme Court consider that

detainees were entitled to the minimal protections listed under the Geneva

Conventions.

Current and former detainees have reported abuse and torture, which the Bush

administration denied.

As we can see the detainees’ human rights are seriously derogating under the name of

counter terrorism, which government claimed being in time of public emergency which

threatens the life of the nation and the existence of which is officially proclaimed,

enacted in ICCPR Article 4, allowing the States Parties take measures derogating from

their humanitarian obligations.

The term of terrorism is becoming a sin and has been abused.

United Kingdom: Counter-terrorism act

Since 2000, the British government enacted a series of counter terrorism act which

target at terrorism undoubtedly, but rather especially aimed at terrorism related to

Northern Ireland. As response to counter terrorism in world trend, UK is more tend to

focus on Irish issues compares to US specific group attacking program. UK gradually

approaches terrorism issue by enacting more and more strict regulations annually.

The parliamentary gave a broad definition of terrorism for the first time in 2000;

provided for an extended list of proscribed terrorist organizations beyond those

associated with Northern Ireland and gave police more access and power to deal with

suspected terrorist.

In 2001, the government allowed Ministry of Defense Police to operate outside of

military bases even for non-terrorist cases due to September 11 attack, and firstly

enabled to detain foreigners as terrorist suspects indefinitely, which might violate the

jurisdiction and foreign immunity under international law.

In 2003, 2006, 2008, 2009 the acts derogated the suspected terrorist’s criminal

procedural right.

In 2009, the parliamentary started to surprising the finance of terrorist under the

mandate of UN Resolution 1373 of the Security Council, allowing the Treasury to

freeze the assets of suspected terrorists.

19

Past Actions

After the tragic terrorist attack of the September 11th, the Security Council Counter

Terrorism Committee was established for the purpose of monitoring the implementation

of Resolution 137319, which took crucial steps to declare the universal determination

to tackle terrorism. In the resolution, member states were called upon to implement

legal and institutional measures to counter terrorist activities20. 9 However, with the

controversial nature of Resolution 1373, the Counter Terrorism Committee can only

carry out very limited impact on tackling terrorism in the African region. Governments

argue that the resolution is a “US-led, western-imposed agenda”19, which fails to meet

the need of the real situation. The absence of legal or institutional framework in the

African Nations has created great obstacle in implementing the measures in Resolution

1373, and many countries have failed to address the issue of terrorism successfully

regardless of the assistance from the Counter Terrorism Committee and other western

nations.

Case Study of Belgium

Belgium, a country long known as, one of the founding members of the European

Union, the headquarters of many major international organizations including NATO,

and EU, furthermore, which hosts numerous the EU's official seats; Ironically, It’s now

crowned the hub of terrorist activity that is threatening lives as well as the Continent’s

troubled enterprise of integration and intelligence sharing.

Molenbeek, a Brussels district long notorious for a haven for jihadists, received a list

with the names and addresses of more than 80 people suspected as Islamic militants

living in this area a week before the bloodshed of Paris took place. The threat that

terrorists aligned with the Islamic State would attack, terrorized the civilians, therefore,

the authorities had the city shut down for days to secure the public.

With soldiers armed on the streets, conducting raids, arresting suspicious people, and

telling everyone to avoid crowds and unnecessary travel. The fear even arose, leaving

the unsettling people hoping for a peaceful future.

As global criticisms flooding in this country, people kept blaming for the incompetence

of the local government. People assumed that the Belgium government should take the

responsibility of such tragic massacre. Nonetheless, Belgium is indeed a microcosm of

the whole EU. If the EU hasn’t had such impeded connections, complex and not

organized laws, chaos between the local government and the federal police, among its

20

member states, it’s for sure that the series of onslaughts wouldn’t have taken place.

With fears of being harmed by terrorism among people living in Europe, the Europe

Union is surely in dire need of a panacea not only for high ratings of possible terrorists

in Belgium, but also for the complicated operating in the EU. By doing so, the EU

should stay united, and therefore here are some advices from the EU policies.

Recommendations and Statements Made by the EU

The EU's increasingly open area of free movement could be abused by terrorists to

pursue their objectives. In this context, concerted and collective EU level action is

indispensable. Therefore, the EU has developed a holistic counter-terrorism response –

the EU Counter-Terrorism Strategy6. Adopted in 2005, this strategy commits the Union

to combating terrorism globally, while respecting human rights and allowing its citizens

to live in an area of freedom, security and justice. It is built around four strands:

- PREVENT people from turning to terrorism and stop future generations of

terrorists from emerging

- PROTECT citizens and critical infrastructure by reducing vulnerabilities

against attacks

- PURSUE and investigate terrorists, impede planning, travel and

communications, cut off access to funding and materials and bring terrorists to

justice

- RESPOND in a coordinated way by preparing for the management and

minimization of the consequences of a terrorist attack, improving capacities to

deal with the aftermath and taking into account the needs of victims.

Prevention and protection

The Commission's main role in this area is to assist EU State authorities in carefully

targeted actions and initiatives, primarily within the PREVENT and PROTECT strands.

When necessary, the Commission also supports EU States by approximating the legal

framework, in full respect of the subsidiarity and proportionality principles. For

example, Framework Decision 2002/475/JHA, which was amended in 2008, provides

a common definition of terrorist and terrorist-linked offences. It is important to

remember that all operational work is performed by EU States' law enforcement and

intelligence authorities.

Over the last years, the Commission has developed policies7 in all sectors related to the

prevention of terrorist attacks and the management of their consequences, e.g. in

21

countering terrorist financing and in hindering access to explosives and to Chemical,

Biological, Radiological and Nuclear materials. The Commission is also responsible

for the European Programme for the Protection of Critical Infrastructure and the EU-

US Agreement on Terrorist Finance Tracking Programme. It is currently developing a

European equivalent of the latter programme.

Radicalization and recruitment

One of the priorities is to prevent people from turning to terrorism by tackling the

factors favoring its spread, which can lead to radicalization and recruitment. The

Commission also provides assistance to victims of terrorism.

Security research

Given that the implementation and further development of these policies rely on the

availability of cutting-edge technologies, the Commission is involved in facilitating

their advancement through security research projects.

International cooperation

Considering the global nature of terrorism, an effective response to such a challenge

requires intense international cooperation. The Commission remains dedicated to

cooperating with partner countries and international organizations, such as UN, G8,

OSCE and the Council of Europe.

Crisis management

The Commission also has an important supporting and coordinating role to play in the

field of European crisis management. EU States are responsible for managing natural

or man-made disasters on their territories and for deciding whether they need external

assistance. However, since disasters are often of a cross-border nature, they might

require multilateral and coordinated responses.

Possible Solutions

In order to combat terrorism happening around the world. It is clear that due to the lack

of a systematic appreciation of the scale and dimensions of the problems, global policy

22

on transnational trafficking in firearms has lagged behind some other policy areas,

including other aspects of illicit commerce and other small arms issues.

In order to deal with this difficulty, here are some recommendations of measures in

accordance with a study conducted by UNODC,” UNODC STUDY ON FIREARMS”,

Chapter Four, page 65-66, made for delegates to have a further thought about practical

solutions to the issues. For three principles brought up by the UN to combat illicit

firearms trafficking, please see the contexts below.

- Data collection and monitoring challenges.

- Overcoming national challenges to countering illicit firearms trafficking.

- International responses to trafficking in firearms.

“It takes two to tango,” owing to the whole procedures need to be legislated, so that the

implementation of anti-smuggling will progress more smoothly, with the help of the

firearm protocol supplementing the Organized Crime Convention. The convention

establishes the framework to prevent and combat transnational organized crime, and

the Firearms Protocol provides for measures to prevent, investigate and prosecute

offences stemming from the illicit manufacturing of and trafficking in firearms. Specific

measures include, inter alia:

- Establishing as a criminal offence the illicit manufacturing of and

trafficking in firearms, their parts and components and ammunition, and

the falsifying or illicitly obliterating, removing or altering the marking

on firearms, in line with the Protocol’s requirements and definitions

Measures on seizure and confiscation of firearms

- Effective control and security measures, including the disposal of

firearms, in order to prevent theft and diversion

- A system for regulating brokers and brokering activities;

- A system of government authorizations or licensing intending to ensure

legitimate manufacture and trade

- Effective marking at time of manufacturing, import and transfer from

government stocks to permanent civilian use, adequate recording and

tracing of firearms and effective international cooperation

- Cooperation and information exchange for tracing

As for the weapons smuggling in Balkans to the difficulty of secure supervision done

among countries approving to the Schengen Agreement. Such issues which are

happening in specific areas, the EU, should be restrained by not only the international

law, but also the federal laws themselves. Many policies elites believe, with the proper

measures processed by the government, the overall situation will become better.

23

Questions to Consider

There are numerous questions to be conveyed by delegations given the complexity of

the issue. Upon seeing the difficulty above, the delegates should consider what actions

Member States could take to prevent terrorist acts ever from happening again. Also,

countries should realize that the first priority among the all measures is the dire need of

cooperation among countries to exchange information and provide assistance to each

other in connection with prevention, investigation and prosecution of terrorist acts.

What’s more, delegates should debate on how to mobilize Member States to participate

on all conventions and to take counter-terrorism actions.

References

Official Websites

- Global Terrorism Database

http://www.start.umd.edu/gtd/

- ICVS

- http://www.icvs.uminho.pt/h

- European Commission

http://ec.europa.eu/priorities/migration_en

- A GLOBAL PROBLEM: Illicit Firearms as a Threat to Global Security |

UNODC

https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/firearms-protocol/introduction.html

Refugees and Humanitarian Problems:

- Syria in Focus | UNHCR

http://www.unhcr.org/552fafd29.html

- UNHCR Syria: A Year in Review 2013 | UNHCR

http://www.unhcr.org/552fafd29.html

- UNODC STUDY ON FIREARMS | UNODC

https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/firearms-protocol/global-firearms-trafficking-

study.html

24

- UNITED NATIONS ACTION TO COUNTER TERRORISM

http://www.un.org/en/terrorism/

- United Nations Actions To Combat Terrorism | UN

http://www.un.org/en/terrorism/background.shtml

Official Documents (pdf.)

Global Terrorism

- Global Terrorism Index 2015: Measuring and Understanding the Impact of

Terrorism |Institute for Economics and Peace

http://economicsandpeace.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Global-Terrorism-

Index-2015.pdf

- Mass-Fatality, Coordinated Attacks Worldwide, and Terrorism in France |

START

http://www.start.umd.edu/pubs/START_ParisMassCasualtyCoordinatedAttack

_Nov2015.pdfh

- Country Fact Sheets 2015 | UNODC

https://www.unodc.org/documents/firearms-

protocol/Country_Factsheet_WEB.pdf

- Study on Firearms 2015 | UNODC

https://www.unodc.org/documents/firearms-

protocol/UNODC_Study_on_Firearms_WEB.pdf

25

Topic II.

Resource exploiture and conflicts resolution in South

China Sea

Statement of Problem

The South China Sea (herein SCS) is a semi-enclosed water that is part of

the Pacific Ocean. It is located north to China, South to Indonesia and Malaysia,

and west to Vietnam, east to Philippines. General speaking, the SCS consists of

shelves, islands, islets, reefs; the bigger ones are the Spratly Islands and the

Paracel Islands.

First, we have to clarify the definition of territorial sea, exclusive economic

zone (EEZ), and artificial islands. According to United Nations Convention on

the Law of the Sea Part II Sec. 2 Article 3: “Every state has the right to establish

the breadth of its territorial sea up to a limit not exceeding 12 nautical miles, and

the exclusive economic zone shall not extend beyond 200 nautical miles,

measured from baselines determined in accordance with this Convention8;

Second, UNCLOS Part V Article 60: “Artificial islands, installations and

structures do not possess the status of islands. They have no territorial sea of

their own, and their presence does not affect the delimitation of the territorial

sea, the exclusive economic zone or the continental shelf.”9

For decades, countries such as People’s Republic of China, Philippines,

Vietnam, Malaysia, Republic of China (Taiwan) and even the United States of

America have been involved in the conflict regarding the overlapping of these

island and EEZs.

Nations insist on not to relinquishing their sovereignties on SCS because of

the following reasons: fossil fuel possession, fishery rights, and irreplaceable

route for shipping, which directly affect the Asia Pacific as a whole.

Research done by the World Bank suggests that SCS possesses up to seven

billion barrels of crude oil and 900 trillion cubic feet of natural gas10, offering

huge economic opportunities for nations nearby, such as Philippines, Malaysia.

The fuel reserves will allow countries to develop their industrial, economic,

political and commercial activities.

According to international customary law and the UN Resolution made in

26

1962: “1803(XVII) Permanent sovereignty over natural resource”, we can

determine that it is necessary for country to own its absolute authority in order to

show control in specific places.11

As for the importance of the maritime traffic, the SCS carries more than half

of the world's supertanker traffic and 30% of all global maritime trade.12 To sum

up, it plays a significant role for communicating the Indian and Pacific Ocean,

and assists surrounding countries. In addition, SCS carries about 5.3 trillion USD

in bilateral annual trade.13 Thus, the essential role SCS plays in maritime traffic

is absolutely vital.

Moreover, countries have also fought for fishery right for a long time since

the SCS accounts for one-tenth of the world’s global fish catch, which helps a

large amount of fishermen make a living. 14Fish protein takes up about 22

percent in Asian diet, and the demand has been increasing recently due to

economic growth.15 Another perspective to fighting for fishery right is that there

are more and more fish species endangered, and therefore requiring fishermen to

travel much longer distances in order to catch enough fish.16 With more and

more fishermen stepping across the EEZ of their own countries and infringing on

that of other countries, more and more conflicts will appear resulting in

relationship worsening between nations.

Recently, the People’s Republic of China started to show its aggressiveness

for sovereignty by declaring its territory, including territorial land, sea and

airspace because China needed to consolidate its status in the world after its

economic reform. Since China needs to develop its economy and maintains its

political power, it puts lots of emphasis on asserting their territorial rights within

the nine-dash line.

History and Discussion

Spratly Islands are the most disputed area and they have been claimed

by China, Taiwan, and Vietnam. Many of these islands fall in the EEZ of

Philippines, along with Vietnam and are also claimed by these countries. In

addition, Itu Aba, the largest island with natural resources, is being occupied by

Taiwan. In fact, there are no specific consensus for distribution among countries

as most of the islands in Spratly are in either Vietnam’s or Philippines’ control.17

Paracel Islands are the second one that is under dispute and claimed by

China, Taiwan and Vietnam. South Vietnamese military was ejected by China in

1974 from the Paracels. Tensions between China and Vietnam have already

27

existed since then not only because of the expelling in 1974 but also the arrest of

Vietnamese fishing vessels.18

Scarborough Shoal is a disputed site as well, claimed by China,

Philippines and Taiwan. It mostly contains small rocks and is almost submerged.

It attracts people’s attention because of the incident between China’s and

Philippines’ vessel.19

The Pratas Islands, claimed by China and Taiwan, is located far from

the Southeast Asia, so none of the ASEAN member claims its sovereignty; Pratas

Islands are now occupied by Taiwan.20

As for the Macclesfield Bank, no nation has officially claimed its

sovereignty, for it is almost submerged into the sea. Some say that China and

Taiwan have respectively divided it into their own territory so far.21

In general, after World War II, the territorial issues have been raised,

however, there have not much obvious conflict among countries around the SCS.

In 1958, China declared that it had its sovereignty within nine-dash line in

Declaration of the Government of the People’s Republic of China on China’s

Territorial Sea22; in fact, the nine dash line was settled in 1947 by Republic of

China.

When lots of cruel oil and natural gas deposits in the SCS were discovered

in the 1970s, tensions started to rise.

28

Graph 1, Gas and oil fields distribution23

The following are statements among countries.

China expressed that it is strongly committed to safeguarding the country's

sovereignty and security, and defending its territorial integrity. Philippines

continuous states that China’s nine-dash line violates its EEZ. The USA doesn’t

expect any kind of armed conflict among countries and they emphasize the

freedom of navigation and securing sea lines of communication.

In 1970s, China, Philippines and Vietnam declared their sovereignty at

Spratly and Paracel; particularly China and Vietnam, they claimed almost every

island or islet over the SCS.

In March 1988, China and Vietnam had a minor naval conflict over Spratly.

Consequently, China won and effectively controlled a few islands which it hadn’t

controlled before the conflict. Yet, Vietnam still occupies many island in Spratly.

In 2002, China and ASEAN member states adopted the Declaration on the

Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea.

Past Actions

Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia: Any country that has

already signed this agreement has to respect other nations’ (especially in

Southeast Asia) independence sovereignty, territory of one another; on top of

that, they should settle disputes by peaceful means.24

Declaration on the conduct of parties in the South China Sea: The parties

undertaking resolve their territorial and jurisdictional disputes by peaceful means

without resorting to threats or the use of force. They also have to negotiate

through friendly ways and not expand or escalate disputes. All parties should not

occupy any uninhabited islands, reefs, shoals, or cays in South China Sea.

Member states were looking forward to a peaceful, friendly and harmonious

environment in South China Sea between ASEAN and China.

In January 2013, Philippines started to initiate proceedings against the

People’s Republic of China in an arbitral way. According to UNCLOS ANNEX

VII25, the Philippines filed The Notification and Statement of Claim, which

outlined the grievances against China and its legal base for its claim.26 In August

2013, the Permanent Court of Arbitration issued a press release, which

established a timetable for further actions and asked the Philippines to fully

address the all the issues such as the merits of the dispute, jurisdiction of the

29

Arbitral Tribunal, and etc.27Philippines submitted a Memorial, presenting the

Philippines' case on the jurisdiction of the Arbitral Tribunal and the merits of its

claim over the West Philippine Sea, consisting of ten volumes and 4,000 pages,

to the Arbitral Court in March 2014.28

After a long and tedious process, the arbitral tribunal convened in Hague in

order to hear the Philippine’s response. However, since if the court had no

jurisdiction in this dispute, it would not accept this case.29 On July 7 and 8,

2015, the representative of Philippines stated that they were seeking an outcome

and rejecting the claim of China’s nine-dash line. Also, they also put emphasis on

environmental issues including both the destruction of ecology and the

overfishing in the SCS. After the “Hearing of the merits” procedure, which gave

Philippines an opportunity to express detailed reason for arbitration, the court

has since been suspended.30

Key Players

China

To a historical angle, Republic of China (better known as Taiwan now), which

governed the mainland China then, claimed the “nine-dash line” in 1947. People’s

Republic of China considers that it has took over all the rights from Republic of China

since 1949, and thus without a doubt, People’s Republic of China thinks that the area

in nine-dash line belongs to it.

In China’s position paper released in October, 2014, China stated that Philippines

has illegally occupied many islands in Spratly where Philippines built schools,

airports and other facilities. China indicated that Philippines had exploited gas and oil

resources in South China Sea which is situated in disputed area. The Chinese

government strongly opposed to this by not exploiting natural resources there

themselves. Additionally, China has accused Philippines and Vietnam more than once

for building airports and deploying missiles on their islands such as Spratly; China

showed its grave concern to activities of any countries in their indisputable territories

of SCS.31 China believed that it has always abided by international laws and treaties,

including UNCLOS, domestic law, ASEAN Convention, while Philippines did not.

China strongly condemned Philippines for not abiding by UN Charter and Declaration

made by ASEAN, which enforces countries to solve the disputes by peaceful

negotiation. China still perseveres the fact that it holds sovereignty over South China

Sea.32

30

As for the plentiful gas and fishery deposits, China is not willing to give up such

resources so easily, so China keeps its probe over resources in South China Sea.

China never gave up its historical rights over South China Sea. China took

advantage of UNCLOS Article 310, which allows states to make declarations relating

to their application, providing they do not ‘exclude or modify’ the legal effect of those

claims.33 However, Justice Max Huber’s tests in the Island of Palmas case (1928)

noted that any rights obtained from history may be lost ‘if not maintained in

accordance with the changes brought about by the development of modern

international law.’34

Lastly, for the response to the Philippines’ movement of applying for arbitration,

China is totally convinced that: “China has indisputable sovereignty over the Nanhai

Islands and their adjacent waters.3536” And it would neither accept nor participate in

the arbitration unilaterally initiated by the Philippines.37

Philippines

Other countries like Philippines oppose concept brought forth by China because

of the controversial problem between PRC and ROC. In addition to that, there is no

certain definition for nine-dash line.38

The Philippines thinks the core problem is China’s position of “indisputable

sovereignty” over nearly the entire South China Sea that is represented by the nine-

dash line, which is an excessive and expansive claim and is a gross violation of

international law. Because there is no legitimacy regarding nine-dash line under

international law, China was thought of as an expansionist. The Philippines also

considers that China is attempting to change the status quo to actualize its

indefensible claim to nearly all of the South China Sea.39

The Philippines prefers to deal with this dilemma through international law and

seek for arbitral assistance.

As mentioned above in Past Action paragraph, Philippines has applied for

arbitration through UNCLOS. It has claimed its stance in the court since 2013, and the

procedure is now continued.

Vietnam

Before 1974, Vietnam supported the fact that the Spratly and the Paracel

belonged to China. Many high-level official had recognized China’s sovereignty in

those island in public. However, the ministry of foreign affairs of Vietnam announced

a document in 1988, indicating that Vietnam admitted it had recognized China

31

possessed Spratly and Paracel just because they want to seek China for help in

attacking the USA. In the same year, Vietnam had a minor conflict with China

regarding the fishery rights, especially for the Spratly Island, which caused several

deaths.

Vietnam’s Law of the Sea, which has been effective since 2013, specifically

referred to Paracel and Spratly as their territory. Despite China’s protests, the law was

still passed.

Vietnam has been the most important ally of the Philippines for SCS dispute.

They has cooperated in not only political and economical way, but also on a military

level. They deepened their cooperation in order to resolve the issue concerning the

South China Sea in a most peaceful way and in accordance with international law.40

Replying to China’s position paper released by China in 2014 (mentioned

above), it completely opposed to China’s claim over the Hoang Sa and Truong Sa

archipelagoes and the adjacent waters. Additionally, Viet Nam reiterated that it has

full historical evidence and legal foundations regarding those islands.41

Graph 2, Areas Claimed by Nations42

32

The United States of America

Although the USA has no territorial island claim over the SCS, it’s role is crucial

as well. The USA strives to hinder China’s influence in the region, and it also wants to

solve the thorny problem with international law. However, the US has not yet ratified

any relevant documents such as UNCLOS.

Other Countries

Countries such as Japan, India and Australia have been affected negatively

because of SCS resource development and it potential for further instability and

conflict. This is because Asia-Pacific nations’ commercial activities depend on SCS’s

marine route. (ASEAN and the South China Sea)

Association of the South East Asia Nations (ASEAN)

ASEAN is a key player in the conflict since almost every country involved in it

is one of its member. Member States of ASEAN, except for Cambodia, has signed

Declaration on the conduct of parties in the SCS. Countries who signed this

declaration have to legislate their domestic law to ensure it will not violate that rule.

In any case, ASEAN is neutral in the clash and trying to decrease the tension among

the countries by acting as a platform for nations to negotiate in peaceful ways.

Possible Solutions

There are a few options for countries to solve the maritime conflicts within

UNCLOS: the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea established in accordance

with Annex VI, the International Court of Justice, an arbitral tribunal constituted in

accordance with Annex VII, a special arbitral tribunal constituted in accordance with

Annex VIII for one or more of the categories of disputes specified therein43 and last

but not least, the arbitration among countries taken by the Philippines. The Court

provides professional personnel and equitable judgment. These are appropriate ways

to solve international conflicts.

33

Questions to Consider

1. What is the most influential cause of the dispute among countries?

2. How can we deal with the dilemma through legal action?

3. Except for Arbitral Tribunal, is there any other effective method/platform to solve

the problem fairly and peacefully?

4. What can the Security Council do to help eliminate or reduce the conflict on the

South China Sea?

5. Why did the previous methods not work?

6. What are the ways to improve the situation by existing platforms?

7. Is it necessary to establish other mechanisms?

8. Are there any chance for countries to build up economic exploitative community?

9. How should the UNSC cooperate with other UN committees?

34

Endnotes

Topic I.

1 "Beirut attacks: Suicide bombers kill dozens in Shia suburb" | BBC 2 Refugees endure worsening conditions as the conflict in Syria heads towards the 6th year | UNHCR

http://donate.unhcr.org/international/syria - _ga=1.136452533.485926007.1453401829

3 An appeal to end the suffering in Syria | UNHCR

https://medium.com/@UNICEF/an-appeal-to-end-the-suffering-in-syria-44d803e494b - .5d98xyx7b

4 Global Study on Homicide | UNODC

http://www.unodc.org/documents/data-and-analysis/statistics/Homicide/Globa_stud

y_on_homicide_2011_web.pdfh

5 1 Leigh, A. and Neill, C., Do gun buybacks save lives? Evidence from panel data, American Law and

Economics Review (2010). 6 The EU-Counter Terrorism Strategy

http://register.consilium.europa.eu/doc/srv?l=EN&f=ST%2014469%202005%20REV%204 7Migration and Home Affairs | EU

http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/home-affairs/what-we-do/policies/crisis-and-terrorism/index_en.htm

Files from the Press

How Europe’s Terrorists Get Their Guns, Naina Bajekal, Vivinne Walt | TIME

http://time.com/how-europes-terrorists-get-their-guns/

The relationship between terrorism and economic growth: Research | Journalist’s Resarch

http://journalistsresource.org/studies/international/conflicts/relationship-between-economic-growth-

terrorism-new-research

Don't Hide from The Reality of How Terrorism Affects the Economy | Investopedia

http://www.investopedia.com/articles/investing/030215/how-terrorism-affects-markets-and-

economy.asp

Why France Has Become a Prime Target for Terrorists | Business Insiders

http://www.businessinsider.com/paris-attacks-why-terrorists-target-france-2015-11

Terrorism Response Puts Belgium in a Harsh Light | The New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/25/world/europe/its-capital-frozen-belgium-surveys-past-failures-

and-squabbles.html?_r=0

For Third Day, Brussels Is Paralyzed by Terror Dragnet | The New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/24/world/europe/brussels-lockdown-terrorism-arrests.html

Bangkok Bombing Update: Thailand Economy Will Not Be Hurt Greatly By Deadly Explosion,

Official Says | IBTimes

http://www.ibtimes.com/bangkok-bombing-update-thailand-economy-will-not-be-hurt-greatly-deadly-

explosion-2072808

Europe Rethinks the Schengen Agreement | Stratfor

https://www.stratfor.com/analysis/europe-rethinks-schengen-agreement

Topic II.

8 UNCLOS: http://www.un.org/depts/los/convention_agreements/texts/unclos/part2.htm 9 UNCLOS: http://www.un.org/depts/los/convention_agreements/texts/unclos/part5.htm 10 Council on Foreign Relations: http://www.cfr.org/china/south-china-sea-tensions/p29790 11 GA Resolution 1803(XVII): http://daccess-dds-

35

ny.un.org/doc/RESOLUTION/GEN/NR0/193/11/PDF/NR019311.pdf?OpenElement 12 Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative: http://amti.csis.org/atlas/ 13 The White House: https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/11/13/press-briefing-nsa-

strategic-communications-ben-rhodes-and-admiral-rober 14 ISN Blog: http://isnblog.ethz.ch/security/fishing-wars-competition-for-south-china-seas-fishery-

resources 15 The Diplomat: http://thediplomat.com/2015/04/the-other-problem-in-the-south-china-sea/ 16 The Diplomat: http://thediplomat.com/2015/04/the-other-problem-in-the-south-china-sea/ 17 Robert Beckman (2011), The UN Convention on the Law of the Sea and the maritime dispute in the

South China Sea, The American Journal of International Law, Vol. 107, No. 1, pp 143-144 18 Robert Beckman (2011), The UN Convention on the Law of the Sea and the maritime dispute in the

South China Sea, The American Journal of International Law, Vol. 107, No. 1, p144 19 Robert Beckman (2011), The UN Convention on the Law of the Sea and the maritime dispute in the

South China Sea, The American Journal of International Law, Vol. 107, No. 1, p145 20 Robert Beckman (2011), The UN Convention on the Law of the Sea and the maritime dispute in the

South China Sea, The American Journal of International Law, Vol. 107, No. 1, p145 21 Robert Beckman (2011), The UN Convention on the Law of the Sea and the maritime dispute in the

South China Sea, The American Journal of International Law, Vol. 107, No. 1, p145 22 Declaration of the government of the People’s Republic of China on China’s territorial sea:

http://www.chinausfocus.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Annex.pdf 23 Coulter, D. Y. (1996). South China Sea fisheries: countdown to calamity, Contemporary Southeast

Asia, 371-388: http://www.southchinasea.org/files/2011/08/oilnames.gif 24 NTI: http://www.nti.org/treaties-and-regimes/association-southeast-asian-nations-asean/ 25 UNCLOS: http://www.un.org/depts/los/convention_agreements/texts/unclos/annex7.htm 26 Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative: http://amti.csis.org/ArbitrationTL/index.html 27 Arbitration between the Republic of the Philippines and the People’s Republic of China: Arbitral

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