Structure and effect of UNCLOS currently being developed by state practice and negotiations with the US as a bystander

As with most comprehensive legal framework documents, UNCLOS includes many broadly worded provisions susceptible to differing interpretations. Not surprisingly, while many of UNCLOS' provisions reflect customary international law, contributed to the rise of significant international political and military rifts. For example, as of 1997, over forty coastal nations-including strategically significant nations such as India and China-have claimed the right to restrict the "innocent passage" of foreign warships through their territorial waters on the basis of prior notice, consent, and/or means of propulsion." Similarly, a minority of coastal states again including China have claimed and/or sought to enforce restrictions or prohibitions on foreign military activities, such as the collection of military intelligence or the conduct of military exercises, within their exclusive economic zones (EEZs). states likewise consider such restrictions contrary to UNCLOS . However, an adequate remedy is not readily available, as judicial and tribunal decisions have yet to definitively resolve these divergent positions. Instead, the relevant currency in the ongoing "negotiation" over the contours of UNCLOS is comprised of relevant state practice, such as diplomatic statements, naval operational assertions, domestic implementing legislation, and authoritative policy documents; institutional policy consensus from, for example, the differing interpretations of key provisions have The United States and a majority of UNCLOS International Law of the Sea Tribunal (ITLOS), the UNCLOS and the UNCLOS Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS); 56 and the writings of international legal scholars.