Home versus abroad: China’s differing sovereignty concepts in the South China Sea and the Arctic

Abstract

The article contrasts China’s interpretations of sovereignty within its so-called motherland in the South China Sea and far from China’s shores in the Arctic. The People’s Republic of China (PRC) has maintained a pre-modern definition of Chinese boundaries in the South China Sea as territorial and ocean frontiers with blurred boundaries to other political authorities. Frontiers were without permanent settlements, but nomads and fishermen recurringly used them within a Chinese imperial system of reciprocal socioeconomic responsibilities. The South China Sea forms part of this frontier where the PRC argues that national Chinese legislation applies. By contrast, far from China’s shores in the Arctic, where China is not the political centre, the PRC seeks to globalise the region, depicting it as a frontier with blurred boundaries of political authority. China recognises the sovereignty of Arctic states, but simultaneously applies standard interpretations of international law to legalise the presence of extra-regional states.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1 Hayton 2014, xvii argues that Marwyn Samuels provides an account based on sources from the People’s Republic of China. This article discusses the Chinese narrative on the South China Sea and in this context, Samuels’ account is an important reference since it relies on Chinese sources and is widely read.

2 In the paragraphs on Chinese understandings of sovereignty, English and Chinese secondary and primary sources and primary sources quoted in secondary sources have been used.

Additional information

Funding

The research for this article was supported by the Security in Asia program at the Norwegian Institute for Defence Studies.

Notes on contributors

Liselotte Odgaard

Liselotte Odgaard is Professor at the Norwegian Institute for Defence Studies and a non-resident Senior Fellow at Hudson Institute. Her work focuses on Chinese foreign, security and defence policy, Indo-Pacific security, and the geopolitics of the Arctic region. Recent publications include Liselotte Odgaard. 2020. "Responsibility to Protect (R2P) Goes to China: An interpretivist analysis of how China's coexistence policy made it an R2P insider." Journal of International Political Theory 16 (2): 231-248 and M. Taylor Fravel, Kathryn Lavelle and Liselotte Odgaard. 2021. "China engages the Arctic: A great power in a regime complex." Asian Security: 1-21. https://doi.org/10.1080/14799855.2021.1986008. She received her Ph.D. in Political Science from Aarhus University in Denmark.