janjak desalin
Junior Member
and ownership of/sovereignty over those features establishes what specific internationally recognized maritime rights and privileges...?
PLAN SCS Bases/Islands/Vessels (Not a Strategy Page)
- Thread starter lilzz
- Start date
Zetageist
Junior Member
The Spratly Islands Dispute: Who's on First?
by Daniel J. Dzurek 1996
He wrote this book 50 years after the end of WWII when current claimants started this dispute. Now, nearly 20 years after he wrote this book, we are nowhere close in solving this dispute.
Free on Google Book but you need a Google account first, which is also free.
Too bad they don't have the newer pictures of Mischief reef
Blackstone
Brigadier
I don't know the facts, but my guess is issues ranging from 12 miles, 3 miles, or zero territorial limits and maybe even SCS ADIZ.
janjak desalin
Junior Member
yes!
and my guess is an attempt to claim an EEZ.
maybe a more acceptable solution would be to attempt to achieve an SCSLSECZ (South China Sea Littoral States Economic Cooperation Zone).
solarz
Brigadier
No, it's not just about EEZs, it's also about security.
There has been a perception that China wants to put military installations on those islands in order to secure their sovereignty. I think it's rather the opposite. Nobody in China really cares much about the SCS islands, so why would the CPC declare them to be a "core interest", on par with Tibet and Taiwan?
The simplest answer would be, because it has vital strategic importance. A strong, permanent military presence in that region would greatly improve China's maritime economic security, made especially important by the New Silk Road plan.
janjak desalin
Junior Member
i could, very well, mistaken ( i have no source), but was under the impression that all the clamor over the spratleys was because of anticipated offshore energy resources.
solarz
Brigadier
Yes, that has been the western media narrative all along, but it doesn't hold up to scrutiny. Energy resources alone is not enough of a reason for the Chinese government to declare the region "core interest", despite the fact that pretty much nobody in China cares about the islands. This isn't like the Diaoyu Islands, which symbolizes the remaining vestige of China's past humiliations, nor is it like Taiwan, which is integral to the legitimacy of the CPC.
So why would the CPC declare the SCS islands a "core interest"? Energy can always be traded for. Security, on the other hand, cannot. It's the simplest explanation that makes sense, IMO.