TEMPEST IN THE CHINA SEAS, CHAPTER IV: ENTER SOUTH VIET-NAM

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP08C01297R000300180028-2
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 11
• Document Creation Date: December 23, 2016
• Document Release Date: October 15, 2012
• Sequence Number: 28
• Publication Date: April 26, 1973
• Content Type: REPORT

Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/12/24: CIA-RDP08CO1297R000300180028-23
NO FOREIGN DIS
SEM RGES-1
'r X77
TEMPEST _IN_THE -CHINA SEAS, CHAPTER IV:
ENTER SOUTH VI ET-NAM
W
C-01
CL
0
M
CL
CZ
r.
act So- I 10 " i he Gulf 01 Siam, Offshore Concession Pr ob i ells
April 27, 1970; RGES-4, "Effects of the Senkakus on the Division
of the East China Sea Continental Shelf," October 27, 1970; and
ROES-5, "South China Sea: Up for Grabs?", September 14, 1971.
FOREIGN DISSEM) .
This report was produced by the Bureau
of Intelligence and Research. Aside from
normal substantive exchange with other
South Viet-Nam will shortly open for bidding its offshore petroleum cdn-
cession zone. American companies.have shown great interest in the zone, which
appears-to have a considerable resource potential. The Vietnamese concession
zone, however, overlaps continental shelf areas claimed by Cambodia, Indone-
sia, Thailand, and probably Malaysia. This paper analyzes these disputes on
the basis of developing international practice.
Unilateral declarations of continental shelf limits and off-
shore concession zones in Southeast and East Asia have created areas
of dispute and political conflict. The latest state to join the
progression of claims--South Viet-Nam--has decreed a national conti-
nental shelf which overlaps prior-claimed areas of Cambodia, Thailand,:
i i
and Indonesia. A possible dispute may also exist with Malaysia J_11
Vietnamese Decree No. 249/BKT/VP/UBQGDH/ND, dated Septemberc&, 1,971,
w specified the limits of South Viet-Nam's national continental shelfiby,`)
_.
CD vans of 33 sets of geographic coordinates. (See Annex 1 for the -text.-)--
L=
0- These limits have been plotted on the attached map, "South Viet-Nam:
r.
R troleum Concessions." The interested parties received these data in
Cl- ?
RVN Ministry of Foreign Affairs Note. No. 793-BNG/JA/PL of March 3, 1972.
0 FOREIGN DISSEM
EXEMPT FROM GENERAL DECLASSIFICATION
SCHEDULE OF EXECUTIVE ORDER 11652
agencies at the working level, it has not FXrMPTTnN rATt CIPV . Cn 111
been ca? Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/12/24: CIA-RDP08C01297R000300180028-2
 :'CONFIDENTIAL/CVO FOREIGN DISSEM
Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/12/24: CIA-RDP08CO1297R000300180028-2
The basis for the Vietnamese claim varies locally. In the east,
toward the Philippines, the meridian of 110? East longitude artificially
forms the limits'of the shelf. The meridian extends everywhere beyond
the 200-meter limit (100-fathom isobath on the map), the provisional
seaward extent of the national continental shelf established by the
beyond 'that' limit-,"'t6- where the depth of-the
a depth `of` 200 meters or,
+C,l x.a r ? aY~,P. 4 ~ ~. r,?t
adjacent':~,`to-:'the'coast'.but outside'of the area of`the territorial sea,
limits: in . Article l' as " ..._othe- seabed and subsoil of the submarine areas
Geneva . Convention- on the.Continental Shelf. The Convention defines these
superjicentwaters admits=of..the exploitation of. the natural resources
.of the said areas...."
The meridian, on the average, lies 50 nautical miles beyond the as-yet
Indonesia - Viet-Nam
points on the baselines of, the opposite states. The variation on.this
principle of equidistance; every.point on the line is equally distant from
To the south, the Vietnamese shelf limit has been defined on.a
principle adopted by the Vietnamese, however, uses only "mainland"
assigned to the continental"portions of South Viet-Nam and 'to such-major
basepoints of the two states. In this context, mainland status. has been"
islands of Indonesia as Borneo. Smaller Indonesian islands, e.g.
the maritime boundary. Consequently, the boundary is situated within
52 nautical miles-'oil these is4iaed - but., at t ~n th2 F apo n 4%. i 96%.
ws,a~i~t`~. rv~u t, ..
Kepulauan'Natuna Utara,-.have been disregarded in the construction o
':CONFIDENTIAL/NO FOREIGN DISSEM
Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/12/24: CIA-RDP08CO1297R000300180028-2
 Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/12/24: CIA-RDP08CO1297R000300180028-2
CONFIDENTIAL/NO FOREIGN DISSEM
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230 nautical miles from the "mainlands" of Viet-Nam,. Borneo, and
Malaysia.
.A basis can~.be said to exist in international law to.disregard,
' .. w ~.~ l~."~ ~i er ~iJ.` _ :tir!Cr: : ,a3-. - ,,: i .. r .~r.- .. r ..+..- , .- _ ?" .. ~4: . - -
n the construction?of.eciuidistant boundaries.. uninhabited..islets
?~ .. --^,. `+ - ?{, `1? tFi : i s..i.. Y' . ff's -flvl' K .s: u m.~'~a ~'~^ _ i .i. _ -??: _ .
situated. immediately adjacent to the median line of the water body.`.
A Rr-~:ir?; ` v er.:'t~?:~'ti=.%:
However,':these.emerging international.practices stem from-neoot.iated.,,-
_."
settlements and not:from unilateral.declarations..Moreover, the.Natuna
group is neither uninhabited nor-situated immediately adjacent to the..
On the attached map, the dark, shaded zone indicates the continental
shelf area which Indonesia could claim if the Natuna.Islands served
as-basepoints along with offshore Vietnamese islands. The disputed
area measures approximately 12,000 square . nautical-miles.
The. bases for both positions have validity.' Viet-Nam claims, as
have many other states objecting to insular basepoints, that the
principle of equity would be violated by the use of the Natuna Islands
as basepoints. The argument is built on the relative size and value..
of major land masses-as the sites of habitation and national sovereignty.
Islands or`islets-,,:.in contrast, are usually mere specks in the sea-.
incapable of.sustaining large populations. They are, therefore, of
negotiated on this basis.
less importance and should be disregarded. Many agreements have been
CONFIDENTIAL/NO FOREIGN DISSEM
Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/12/24: CIA-RDP08CO1297R000300180028-2
 Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/12/24: CIA-RDP08CO1297R000300180028-2
CONFIDENTIAL/NO FOREIGN DISSEM
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Indonesia has; shown a remarkable degree of sophistication in the
negotiation of its territorial sea and continental shelf.limits with
Malaysia, Thailand, and Australia. (Only.theagreement with Malaysia
is fwll :"effect. inevery 'discussio7-7 7
n on. the law of the" sea or the
peaceful uses of the seabed, Indonesia has started with the premise that
the state comprisesan archipelago with geographic unity .which cannot
7-..K.-
of many insular states. To preserve equity,. Indonesia: allowed Malaysia's
for example,: to draw :straight baselines about its distant islands to
11 serve as lines of division for the seabed However, by this act, Malaysia
e~ r
j.
1
-,.....r,.~.. ~~~~ 1!uL.cIr