Quote:Dartz wrote:Hmm...
It's definitely a novel one for the UN to sort out. If a nationally flagged corporation - or even a nationalised company - lands something in the water and plants a flag on it, what're the ramifications for international relations?
What if China lands an asteroid in the middle of the South China Sea?
If for whatever reason it was floating (keeping the spindizzy going enough to keep it at the water's surface, sufficient tunneling, whatever) then IIRC various UN definitions of the term country mean that trying to pull a Sealand by sticking up your flag probably wouldn't work any better than it has for Sealand. Quoting from the always accurate Wikipedia:
Quote:the United Nations Convention on the Law of the SeaOf course Sealand's shortcoming is that it really has very little to offer to any established nation to convince them to recognize Sealand as a nation. A sufficiently sized chunk of stone on the other hand might be able to find something to offer that an old 0.025 km^2 ocean fortress wouldn't. There are of course mineral assets, of which you could offer favorable prices to anyone recognizing your rock as a nation. Depending on the shape of your rock and the nearby coastline you might offer the possibility of a port where the nearby shore doesn't. There is also the possibility of offering some kind of defense/policing treaty is you land in an area where there are seaborn threats (aiming to curb piracy would probably be the best bet, if there's a enough of a martial threat that one side would welcome you then the other side is probably strong enough to be a significant threat to you).
(in force since 1994), which states in part V, article 60, that:
'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.'[37]
In the opinion of law academic John Gibson, 'because Sealand was
man-made there was little chance that it would be recognised as a
nation.'[36]
There is also the lawyers & guns question. Do you have them? Get at least one country that wants what you have to offer to officially recognize you and then set your lawyers/diplomats to the task of expanding that legal foothold. In terms of arms, can you make it sufficiently expensive for any country to invade you that they will leave you alone so long as you don't go all Dark Side on them? If your major export is cut price emulation of thionite or mundane readily abused drugs -- expect an intervention sooner or later rather than recognition as a state. Likewise if your rock decides to become involved in other widely frowned upon activities. The best air and shore defenses available will only work until someone in the Pentagon (or other nation's equivelant) says, "Ah-ha! If we do this we can bypass that..."
My suggestion if you really want to be recognized as a nation? 1. Find a way to be economically valuable to your nearby neighbors. 2. Lawyers/Diplomats, you need them. If you are going to be a country you'd better be prepared to play the nation game. 3. Make pains to be a good neighbor. Have a coast guard/search & rescue service and provide aid even to the ships of countries that are hostile to you. Offer use of a landing field/ports to humanitarian missions. Etc.
The other option of course is to land out far in the middle of an ocean and do your best to stay out of anything political. Heck, take your rock underwater and that will greatly reduce the numbers of people who can reach you. (Although some will wonder just why you're trying to be that private.)
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