On the Freedom of the Seas or the Right of the Netherlands to Participate in the East India Trade

Author: Grotius H. Ma Zhongfa
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-08-01
Features: The Free Sea consists of thirteen chapters, which can be divided into four parts. The first part contains one chapter, serving as an overview and summarizing its theory or principles, proposing the views of free trade and free navigation. The second part includes chapters 2 to 7, primarily discussing maritime freedom. Chapters 2 to 4 mainly argue that the Portuguese had no sovereignty over the East Indies from three perspectives: discovery, papal donation, and war. Chapters 5 to 7 also primarily argue that maritime rights and navigation rights on the sea do not belong to the Portuguese from three perspectives: occupation, papal donation, and prescription. This part is the focus and core of the entire article. The third part covers chapters 8 to 11, primarily discussing the right to free trade, with chapter 8 serving as an overview of these four chapters. Chapters 9 to 11 respectively argue from the perspectives of discovery, papal donation, and war that the Portuguese had no right to free trade with the East Indies. The fourth part, the last two chapters, summarize on one hand by refuting the actions of the Portuguese and on the other by demanding the Dutch to uphold their trade rights. This book is the first Chinese edition. In this book, Grotius, based on the theory of natural law, explains his theories of maritime freedom and trade freedom from three perspectives: the Portuguese had no sovereignty over the East Indies, no right to monopolize maritime and navigation rights, and no right to monopolize international trade rights. The international legal ideas implied in his work mainly include: freedom of navigation and fishing, freedom of trade, right of innocent passage, common heritage of mankind, and the theory of peace and peaceful resolution of international disputes.