First, I shall require you to do some
homework. Go to Google Images, and search for “9 dashed line south
china sea”. You will see an oceanic map. There are some coastal
countries and a whole bunch of island countries. In the middle, there
is a label: South China Sea, and a red circle encompassing most of
it.
Maritime Law
Every country that has a coast has an
economic zone of influence that extends out into the ocean. You are
not suppose to gather economic resources from this zone without the
permission of the owning country.
The question arises: what happens when
there are islands with overlapping zones? Well there is all manner of
negotiations and treaties and agreements.
China's 9 Red Lines
In the South China Sea, there are many
overlapping zones. There is long and tiring history of negotiations,
and a rather complex web of agreements that carefully divvy up this
sea.
Along comes China, unilaterally
claiming economic control of whole kit n' caboodle. This certainly
seems like a strategic mistake. This action seems to have provoked a
defensive league of the local nations who previously would have
nothing to do with each other.
Why?
The answer is easy.
Oil.
You see, China is powered mostly by
coal, and this has created a serious pollution problem. The South
China Sea has humongous oil and natural gas reserves, and China
covets it. The Chinese Politburo is in deep panic over the air
pollution problem, and are desperate for alternatives, including
natural gas and oil. This is also why they are heavily subsidizing
solar cell manufacturers and building several dozen nuclear reactors.
An Old Saying
In the book All the President's Men,
there is a bit of valuable wisdom: follow the money. In this case, I
would say: follow the oil.
No comments:
Post a Comment