South China Sea Essay

The Nile River is the most geopolitically significant waterway in the world. It is the lifeblood of Egypt without the Nile Egypt could not survive. The Nile is a source of conflict on a regular basis because of water rights and trade and distribution. 83 million people in Egypt and Africa live by the Nile River. The Nile covers over 4000 square miles of water leading to the Aswan High Dam all the way down to the Mediterranean Sea. Cairo has dominated the trade and usage of the Nile so countries upstream are faced with challenges like distribution coming from 2 tributaries called the White Nile and Blue Nile. The Blue Nile originates in Ethiopia and the White Nile originates in the great lakes region and the two rivers combined it makes the

official statements have stressed the need for SCS territorial claimants to follow the rules established by international law, specifically UNCLOS, and therefore we feel claims must be derived from land features in the SCS.14 In short, only terrestrial land (islands and rocks) generate maritime zones, not vice versa. Consequently, China’s NDL would not meet these criteria.

The Spratly Islands represent a territorial dispute over the ownership of the land in the South China Sea. China, Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Taiwan all make claims to different parts of the islands. The Spratly Islands are very important for many reasons. First, the

At present, China is the largest economy in the world, overtaking the US in January 2015. It is also the world’s second largest oil consumer behind the US (Chen 2015) and the world’s largest net importer of crude oil (Dunn 2014). Its net importer status was driven by steady economic growth, with rapidly rising Chinese petroleum demand outpacing production growth (EIA 2014). China is also the fourth largest oil producing country in the world (Refer to Appendix ___).

The evolution of the world toward a more industrial-based society has threatened fisheries, reefs, and maritime systems around the world. To combat the problems, various measures of legislation and government intervention have been implemented to protect living and nonliving marine entities and ensure that resources aren’t fully depleted.

The Mariana trench, is the deepest, darkest and most mysterious location in the ocean. It is located in the western Pacific Ocean, 36,070 feet below the surface. Home to fascinating creatures like the goblin shark, one that is believed to have been around when dinosaurs were alive. Recently, it has been discovered that creatures in the Mariana trench have been found with man-made fibres in their stomachs, showing that no part of the world’s seas are now untouched by human makings. Plastic Pollution in the ocean has been an ongoing issue for decades. Defilement, has littered Pacific Northwest coast lines, contaminated fish, and with many other awful repercussions that come with plastic pollution. This leads to the many questions like: Countries of the world need to regulate water/trash to keep the oceans healthy. Finding who is responsible for pollution, will further the knowledge on how to fix littering. Exploring new ways to regulate and minimize plastic pollution in oceans, should be a priority for the world. Awareness of pollution has expanded, but specific programs need to be developed to prevent further pollution.

Chinese experts estimate that the South China Sea can ultimately yield 130 billion barrels of oil, making it contain more oil than anywhere else in the world with the exception of Saudi Arabia. For this reason, Chinese observers have called the South China Sea “the second Persian Gulf”. China’s state-owned China National Offshore Oil Corporation has invested $20 billion the energy generating resources in the South China Sea and has already taken steps to extract these natural resources. In 2014, China placed the Haiyang Shiyou 981 oil rig in contested waters, near Vietnam. The Chinese oil rig is the first domestically built mobile drilling platform by China, and it covers the area of a football field and stands 449 feet tall. After clashes with Vietnamese vessels, China briefly removed the oil rig, but it was placed back near the Gulf of Tonkin on January 16, 2016. The Vietnamese government strongly protested against the presence of a Chinese oil rig in contested waters that both China and Vietnam claim. The rig is currently in an overlapping area between the Hainan Island (China) continental shelf and Vietnam’s continental shelf. The presence of this oil rig caused worry and has lead to many conflicts. China is also desperate for new sources of energy, as China consumes 10 percent of all oil produced while only producing 1.1 percent. The resources in the South China Sea could relieve China’s dependence on oil coming from the Middle East through

China has been building artificial islands, shown in Figure 1, on the South China Sea, surrounded by China, Indonesia, Vietnam, Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei. The South China Sea is the centre of ⅓ of the world 's shipping transits as well as many reefs. There is also claims of potential oil and gas reserves. All of the countries have been competing for power in parts of this area; extending far from coastlines to claim many areas as possible.These territorial claims have caused disputes among the nations and building artificial islands on disputed area has caused tension and suspicions. The land reclamation has not only sparked more tension but is also damaging to the marine biodiversity. The work being undertaken

Transporting goods over the see consider as an effective way globally and has benefited the world amazingly. On the regular daily basis, ships all over the world are moving from port to port either to carry or deliver goods. Furthermore, 90 percent of shipments have been transported by vessels. The globalization has influenced the world to be interactive in trading by sea. Transporting oil nowadays by vessels is the safest method away from people sights. In fact, 1800 million tons of crude oil is transporting early by sea. Although treaties that have been established to avoid any risk could happen from an oil spill are not taken seriously unless the universe is facing a tremendous tragedy. However, oil spills consider as an enormous issue that result in sever dispute economically and politically. Furthermore, oil spills have exceeded an average 700 tons over a year. As a matter of fact, there is always major risk from an oil spill.

The quality of the water in China is at a critical level. The great amount of latency when it comes to pollution has led to “41,000 sq km of [polluted] coastline” (Tibi).

3.???Marine science research and maritime environmental protection?Conducting multi-national marine and ecological research projects pertaining to the East China Sea.

The data show that roughly 48,000 square kilometers of China’s oceanic territory is seriously polluted, an increase of 18,300 square kilometers from last year, according to a report by the State Oceanic Administration of China (SOA). Of the 18 ecological zones monitored by the SOA, 14 were found to have unhealthy levels of pollution. (Moxley, 2011) Generally, as the eastern costal area of China occupies great amount of its economic production, pollutants mostly come from these urban and industrial wastes which contain different toxic chemical substances that are pernicious to the marine flora and fauna. In addition, the excess agricultural fertilizer with nitrogen and phosphorus could destroy marine organisms’ immune system. And it may causes the disease among species and further lowers reproduction rate. Eventually, with the loss of more species, the ocean ecosystem will become more unbalanced in years. Another important cause of declining marine biodiversity is the invasive species. For instance, mytilopsis sallei which originally lives in tropical South America water regions is now found in the southeast China coast. (Li-jun, Bin, n.d.) According to the research, its outlook is similar to tiny mussel, and it has a strong ability to adapt in harsh conditions. Also, it usually gathers together with a high density in some water regions which could impact the local marine agriculture. Furthermore, it

As the tension and activities of competing countries increase in the South China Sea this in turn has increased potential implications for its environment. One major implication is the potential hazards that are threatening coral reefs and other components of the local marine ecology within that region. The once untouched ecosystem is at danger because of aggressive engagements of ocean floors in search of natural resources. Since 2013, China has orchestrated reclamation constructions on reefs in the disputed Spratly Islands with goals of transforming them into artificial islands where they have built airbases and ports . As a result, this has destroyed the environment that was originally there. In addition to China, Vietnam, Taiwan,

The majority of the US population lives near the coast, not just because the ocean is beautiful but because the ocean is a major hub of economic activity. The sea provides us with food and livelihoods along every coast of the United States and its territories. Commercial, recreational, and subsistence fisheries bring in many millions of pounds of fish and dollars each year to coastal communities. People also use the ocean and shoreline for a multitude of recreational and resourceful activities that allows one and many to live their daily life. Despite the development of planes, trains, and automobiles, shipping is still the major mode for transporting goods internationally, and many cities rely on their ports as a major source of revenue. The ocean is also valued for the natural resources that lie beneath the ocean floor. In the Gulf of Mexico there exists billions of dollars worth of oil and natural gas. The story of the shipping industry since the first steamships were built more than century ago has been one of ingenuity, professionalism and fabulous profits. Maritime transport encompasses all forms of transport by sea, intermodal links and inland ports but has certain difference from other modes of transport. Maritime economics is not only revolving around transportation, although the largest aspect of maritime economics; oil, natural gas, and mineral exploration all play an unprecedented amount in the worlds economic. 70% of the world is covered in water, 80% of

Nowadays, the conflict of territory solving in the world causes many complicated problems among countries, as well as tensions in foreign policies. One of these conflicts is the dispute in South China Sea between China and six neighbor ASEAN countries. With the intervention of the United States, the issue turns to be more serious as it attracts a lot of concerns from international community. This research tries to find a clear way of understanding the South China Sea conflict, specifically about the effort of China and Vietnam to gain the control over the two groups of islands: Paracel and Spratly. The hypothesis intends to express the possibility about Vietnam’s victory in this conflict with the help of the United States. Hence,