Abstract:

 The modern concept of lowtide elevations was not established until the midtwentieth century. Although both Convention on the Territorial Sea and Contiguous Zone of 1958 and United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea of 1982 (UNCLOS) contain specific provisions on the legal status of lowtide elevations, they fail to elaborate on three crucial issues related to lowtide elevations: What are the criteria for the determination of the natural status of lowtide elevations? Whether lowtide elevations can be appropriated by occupation? What is the impact of sea level rise on the status of lowtide elevations? In response to these issues, this paper will analyze not only the provisions concerning lowtide elevations in UNCLOS, but also relevant international law cases and State practice. In addition, it will present the author’s personal appraisal of those issues concerning lowtide elevations in the South China Sea Arbitration.

Key words: tidal datum, United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, occupation, South China Sea Arbitration,  lowtide elevations