CONTEMPORARY EURASIA VOLUME VIII (1) ContemporaryEurasia81 | Page 82

STRATEGIES ON TERRITORIAL ACQUISITION- A CASE STUDY ON THE PEDRA …
South Ledge was smart and ambitious, though it eventually failed on the
surface. Both Singapore and Malaysia’s claims of these two deserted islets
are based on insufficient evidence. Singapore’s claim failed because it could
provide no proof of effective control over them. Nevertheless, it could be
inferred that Singapore had de facto predicted this possibility when it first
questioned Middle Rocks and South Ledge’s sovereignty status, for the
reason above.
At the beginning of the case, the legal status of these three islets in the
era before the establishment of Horsburgh Lighthouse was uncertain.
Moreover, the result of Middle Rocks’ judgment was comparatively more
difficult to predict compared to Pedra Branca, which was effectively
controlled and managed for more than a century. Middle Rocks is too small
for human habitation. This islet attracted little attention from any
governments in its long history. Singapore’s claim to this islet was only
based on the principle of contiguity that all the disputed islets actually
belong to the same underwater maritime entity so that they were geologically
the same. It was rejected by the Court because geographical contiguity is not
a valid reason to claim sovereignty over adjacent territory, as judge Max
Huber explained in the Island of Palmas case one century ago. 15 As it can be
seen from the proceeding of this case, Malaysia’s winning of sovereignty
over Middle Rocks was supported by the previous judgement of Johor
having the original title to islands that lie north of the southern bank of
Singapore Strait in this region, which was evaluated by the Court from only
two indirect and vague pieces of evidence. 16
Based on the analysis above, the motivation of Singapore’s putting
forward the dispute of Middle Rocks and South Ledge was aimed at
changing the game result and enhance its success rate of winning Pedra
Branca. Both claimants faced a zero-sum game when Pedra Branca was the
only target to compete for. The game then evolved into a more complicated
one with three more results after the dispute of Middle Rocks and South
Ledge were crystallized. The four possible results were:
1. All islets belong to Singapore;
2. All islets belong to Malaysia;
3. Pedra Branca to Singapore, Middle Rocks to Malaysia, South
Ledge remains unknown;
4. Pedra Branca to Malaysia, Middle Rocks to Singapore, South
Ledge remains unknown.
15
Pedra Branca Judgement, 99, para. 289.
The first piece of evidence is the 1824 Anglo-Dutch Treaty, which divided British and
Dutch colonies in this region. The second piece of evidence is British reports on Johor’s rule
over the people of Orang Laut who mainly inhabited in the region of the east entrance of
Singapore Strait (including the disputed islets in the Pedra Branca case). See Memorial of
Malaysia, 68-70.
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