南海是主要國際航道且海床及底土可能蘊藏豐富的生物與非生物資源，因此中國、臺灣、越南、菲 律賓、馬來西亞和汶萊都聲稱對南海擁有領土主權。近年來由於中國對東南亞實施睦鄰友好政策，使此 地區成為世界上經濟發展最蓬勃之地帶，美國於伊拉克撤軍後，其軍力將重返亞太地區，勢必造成南海 情勢之遽變，使原先已相當複雜之南海情勢更雪上加霜。若南海問題未能妥善處理，非但會形成各聲索 國海洋權益的爭奪，且會危及區域安全與和平穩定之發展。如何處理南海問題已成為影響利害關係國之 間攸關未來發展之關鍵。 共同開發方式始於1960年代初期，是作為解決重疊海域爭議區海洋資源問題之一種有效途徑。1970 年代至1980 年代，共同開發的必要性也逐漸為各國所接受。準此，中國一向主張「主權屬我、擱置爭 議、共同開發」，惟南海周邊國家對於共同開發方式意見分歧，有國家反對共同開發，也有認為共同開 發不能只是中國與相關國家之雙邊共同開發，而應與所有爭端國進行多邊共同開發；同時中國主張由爭 端當事國雙邊解決，不願接受將部分非法佔領之島嶼納入共同開發之範圍，或區域外非爭端國所提出以 和平解決國際爭端之方式適用於南海爭端。 睽諸海域爭議區共同開發之國際實踐，實施共同開發之成功與否，其先決條件為爭端當事國必須承 認爭議的存在，並就爭議區的範圍達成共識，否則共同開發就如紙上談兵、難以實現。在南海地區，中 國同越南、菲律賓、馬來西亞、印尼、汶萊等周邊國家要想進行共同探勘開發相當困難，故海峽兩岸應 先達成共同探勘開發之共識，後再與其他國家進行廣泛交流，藉由引進外資技術，對南沙群島海洋資源 進行探勘與開發。

The South China Sea is a major international waterway whose sea-bed and subsoil may be abundant in biological and non-living resources. China,Ta iwan,Vie tnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei all claim sovereignty over certain islands in the South China Sea. In recent years,Ch ina's good-neighbor policies toward South East Asian countries have helped to make the region one of the most economically vigorous in the world. As the U.S. withdraws from Iraq,its military is beginning to return its focus to the Asia-Pacific region,c omplicating the situation in the South China Sea. If the problem is not properly dealt with,it may cause not only a struggle among all claimants of maritime rights,bu t also destabilize the security and peace in the region. Joint development of the region begin in the early 1960s and has become an effective way to solve the problem of marine resources in disputed area. During the 1970s and 1980s,join t development gradually came to be accepted by each country in the region. Based on this,Ch ina has pursued a policy of "recognizing Chinese sovereignty, shelving disputes,an d seeking common development." Neighboring countries in the South China Sea,h owever, have different opinions about joint development. Some countries are opposed to joint development,w hile others insisted that joint development could not only be in the form of bilateral agreements between China and other claimant States,bu t rather should take the form of multilateral development; at the same time, China advocates a bilateral settlement between relative claimants,refus es to include the illegal occupation of islands in development agreements,and also opposes the participation of non-claimants in the the settlement process. Looking into the international practice of joint development of disputed maritime area,th e key to successful joint development is that claimants must admit the existence of the dispute and reach an agreement about the extent of the disputed area,oth erwise joint development is unlikely to mature. In the South China Sea,i t is difficult to conduct joint development among those disputed countries. As a result,Cr oss-Straits should reach an agreement of joint exploration and exploitation of oil and gas in South China Sea first,then ,inv ite other countries to join in. The participation of the claimants would bring certain benefit to all by introducing foreign technology and capital which would further advance exploration and development of the sea around the Spratly Islands.