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The Six-Country Fight Over These Tiny, Terrible Islands
The Six-Country Fight Over These Tiny, Terrible Islands
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Untertitel (622)
0:00
this is a Boeing 737 operated by hon
0:03
Airlines it's just flown a purportedly
0:06
domestic flight from Haiku a city on the
0:08
Chinese island of hyan to a place that
0:10
can't even be named without eliciting
0:13
controversy in English this is Woody
0:15
Island in Chinese it's Yong Shing da in
0:18
Vietnamese it's dulam but to all it's
0:21
the epicenter of one of the most
0:22
persistent territorial standoffs on
0:25
earth a short drive away from the
0:27
airport is this the Island's oversized
0:29
City Hall far eclipsing what is
0:31
justified by its population but rather
0:34
justified by the fact that this is not a
0:35
city in the traditional sense but a
0:37
chines prefecture level City a single
0:40
political entity that encompasses all of
0:42
the people's Republic's South China Sea
0:44
Holdings and assertions the prefecture
0:46
level City status bestows these
0:48
disperate islands the same
0:49
jurisdictional stature as guango
0:51
Shenzhen or Wuhan which inevitably
0:53
angered well everyone else that's
0:57
because the South China SE islands that
0:59
the preeminent power claim are
1:00
simultaneously claimed and held by the
1:02
Philippines Vietnam Taiwan Malaysia and
1:05
brunai while the entire world has a
1:07
vested interest in keeping the maritime
1:09
passages through the area open and
1:11
international China meanwhile asserts
1:14
that sanche City headquartered on Woody
1:16
Island is an integral part of its
1:18
territory and that this is a true City
1:20
like any other and while perhaps not
1:23
organic today Woody Island operates as a
1:25
plausible fimile of a real place that
1:28
737 is operated by a a commercial
1:30
civilian airline in fact hon Airlines is
1:33
one of the few in China not owned by the
1:35
government and it simultaneously flies
1:37
to Europe North America even to Vietnam
1:40
where protests regularly erupt from
1:42
Chinese assertions of sovereignty over
1:44
places like Woody Islands under similar
1:46
logic China has also facilitated the
1:48
development of a civilian population on
1:50
Woody composed of at least a thousand
1:52
individuals primarily working in the
1:54
fishing business whose boats can be seen
1:56
here this is one of two protected
1:59
Harbors built by by the Chinese
2:00
government with deep channels dredged
2:02
open to facilitate the arrival of larger
2:04
cargo and Military vessels scattered
2:07
across the small island are an
2:08
impressive quantity of basketball and
2:10
Tennis Courts along with a large track
2:12
to fill residents's time and then to the
2:14
east is what used to be Rocky island on
2:17
it is what's believed to be a signals
2:19
intelligence Station built specifically
2:21
there due to the smaller Islands higher
2:23
elevation well this road used to be the
2:25
over ocean Causeway connecting it to
2:27
Woody but in 2017 the Chinese created
2:30
artificial land to connect the two
2:31
islands together and expand the overall
2:34
unit as its South China Sea presence
2:36
expanded after all over 500 mil away in
2:39
another part of Sanchez City China's
2:42
audaciousness
2:43
escalates this is Mischief Reef but
2:46
notably not Mischief Island that's
2:49
because this isn't an island as revealed
2:52
in this NASA imagery from 2001 this used
2:55
to truly just be a coral reef or
2:58
technically what's referred to as a low
3:00
tide elevation a structure that is
3:02
submerged during high tide but sits
3:04
above the waterline during low tide that
3:06
explains the unnaturally perfect
3:08
curvature of today's land's edges it's
3:11
all artificial land reclamation
3:13
protected from erosion by these Rocky
3:15
seaw walls and this well this is
3:18
believed to be anti-aircraft weaponry
3:21
and that is best explained by this mere
3:24
miles away is another low tide elevation
3:27
and on it is a barely perceptible spec
3:30
that represents the far humbler
3:31
Philippine equivalent of China's massive
3:34
land reclamation project the BRP Sierra
3:37
mtre previously known as the USS Barnett
3:40
County this vessel is a former American
3:42
World War II era Landing ship that
3:44
eventually ended up in the Philippine
3:45
Navy until they purposefully ranted a
3:47
ground on second Thomas scha in order to
3:49
permanently station Marines on it to
3:51
guard what they assert is their
3:53
territory meanwhile to the north there
3:56
is taiping Island held by Taiwan a true
3:59
genuine naturally occurring piece of
4:00
land that ranks as the Sea's largest and
4:03
also as the furthest extremity of the
4:05
tiny Island nation's territory at least
4:07
according to them neighboring it to the
4:09
east is Sand Key held by Vietnam also
4:12
naturally occurring yet artificially
4:14
expanded by their land reclamation work
4:16
and then further a field there's
4:17
Malaysia asserting its sovereignty
4:19
through tiny platforms like this built
4:21
at top Erica reef and others and finally
4:23
there's brunai with Louisa Reef which is
4:26
the only of the claimants to have
4:27
forgone building a physical structure to
4:29
defend its claim but these nations are
4:32
not truly there for the tiny islands and
4:34
reefs after all at best they have a
4:36
scarce supply of brackish wellwater at
4:39
worst they are truly just an
4:41
accumulation of dead coral rather all
4:44
six nations are using claims on the
4:46
islands or atol themselves to assert
4:48
claims on the ocean around that's where
4:50
the value is the South China Sea sits at
4:53
the center of many of the world's
4:55
busiest cargo ports Singapore qual lumur
4:58
hoian city guango Shenzhen Hong Kong
5:01
Taipei Manila and the countries that
5:03
host these ports crucially rely on the
5:05
ability to export goods in a reliable
5:07
and inexpensive manner not only that but
5:10
the area is a massively important and
5:12
fast dwindling fishery 12 half% of all
5:15
the world catch comes from the sea
5:17
despite only representing 2 and 1 half%
5:19
of the Earth's surface and finally
5:21
there's talk of oil while largely
5:23
unexploited oil fields summing up to 3.6
5:27
billion Barrels have already been
5:28
charted with billi ions more believed as
5:30
yet undiscovered so as much as the
5:33
navigation routes fish stocks and oil
5:35
supplies are attractive as resources for
5:37
each of the Six Nations to own they're
5:39
each perhaps even more threatened by a
5:41
scenario where another nation is able to
5:43
assert sovereignty over the area and cut
5:45
off access so while these physical
5:47
structures partially serve as military
5:49
bases to allow for the physical defense
5:51
of the islands and atols each Nation
5:53
holds even more so they serve as part of
5:56
each country's legal argument as to why
5:58
they are the true true Sovereign power
6:00
over this stretch of ocean but China's
6:03
claim well it's the simplest they claim
6:06
that the islands have always been theirs
6:10
China articulates this claim in brief
6:12
policy documents like this which each
6:14
refer to a Litany of historical text
6:16
that purport to prove that the Chinese
6:17
people were the first to discover
6:19
administer populate and exploit the
6:21
South China Sea and its Islands the
6:24
earliest of these early texts is
6:25
entitled yui and it dates back to the
6:28
Han Dynasty meaning it was written
6:30
within a couple hundred years of the
6:32
year zero now within this text is this
6:35
sentence describing the features of a
6:37
particular stretch of water but
6:39
translating it is tricky some will
6:41
translate this as quote there are Ridge
6:44
heads in the rising sea the water is
6:46
shallow but filled with a lot of
6:47
magnetic rocks a rather unremarkable
6:50
phrase the Chinese Ministry of Foreign
6:52
Affairs meanwhile translates this as
6:54
quote there are eyelets sand Keys reefs
6:57
and banks in the South China Sea the
6:59
water there is shallow and filled with
7:01
magnetic rocks or Stones quite the
7:04
difference the disconnect stems from
7:06
what these characters janghai are to be
7:08
interpreted as referring to the literal
7:11
translation is simply rising sea but
7:14
this was a proper name used at the time
7:16
to refer to a portion of the ocean south
7:18
of China the question is which portion
7:22
some claim it refers to a much more
7:24
narrow portion while China of course
7:26
asserts it refers to all of today's
7:28
claim and then there's the matter of the
7:30
islands sand Keys reefs and Banks
7:33
asserted in the Ministry of Foreign
7:34
Affairs is clearly generous translation
7:37
did this text truly refer to finding
7:39
proper Islands or is it simply
7:41
indicating that the ocean is shallow
7:43
which it is this is only a portion of
7:46
the assertions and corresponding
7:48
critiques stemming from this one text
7:50
and then there's a seemingly endless
7:51
assortment of other historical writings
7:53
and Maps put forward by the Chinese
7:55
government as evidence and on top of
7:57
that there's archaeological evidence
7:59
actual artifacts that demonstrate
8:01
Chinese presence on South China Sea
8:03
Islands but the question that inevitably
8:05
ensues with every Discovery is whether
8:07
it is truly evidence of habitation and
8:09
sovereignty or rather just tangential
8:12
vestages of a seaf fairing civilization
8:15
and more broadly there's an even more
8:17
complex legal question on whether
8:19
Chinese presence on these islands pass
8:21
the ambiguous threshold that indicates
8:23
belief through history of sovereignty
8:25
over them and then even more
8:26
confoundingly whether that belief
8:28
translated from each of the many
8:30
dynasties and governments to have
8:31
reigned over China to the next but
8:34
bizarrely China has an ally in this
8:37
historical narrative Taiwan the disputed
8:40
country's claim over the South China Sea
8:42
is almost the exact same as China's same
8:45
territory same argument that's because
8:48
both the People's Republic of China also
8:51
known simply as China and the Republic
8:52
of China referred to as Taiwan each more
8:55
or less assert that they are the sole
8:57
legitimate government of all of China
8:59
and Taiwan stemming from the Republic of
9:01
China's Origins as the government of
9:03
China r large before retreating to
9:05
Taiwan in the dying days of their civil
9:07
war against the now reigning Communist
9:09
party because the government of Taiwan
9:11
is a direct lineage of the former
9:13
government of mainland China they
9:15
believe that the same history and logic
9:17
that is used to assert China's
9:18
sovereignty of the South China Sea also
9:20
applies to them so in a bizarre way
9:23
China and Taiwan are functionally Allied
9:25
in the South China Sea against the four
9:27
other nations even if there still is
9:29
dispute between the two of them because
9:31
to each the dispute is far simpler if
9:34
rather than six simultaneous claims the
9:36
sea is Sovereign to at least historic
9:38
China and then the only question is what
9:41
lineage of the past is the rightful one
9:43
but China and Taiwan aren't the only
9:45
Nations to claim that the islands have
9:47
simply always been theirs from the 17th
9:50
century to now Vietnam has gone through
9:52
a whole host of ruling regimes it's been
9:55
dynasties it's been a colony it's been
9:57
an authoritarian State all while the
9:59
nation territory itself has oscillated
10:01
between split splintered and unified but
10:04
across it all whoever's ruled Vietnam
10:06
has also claimed the hanga or parisel
10:09
and tranga or spratly archipelagos as
10:12
part of the nation's Sovereign territory
10:14
and they have the maps and documents to
10:16
prove it ranging from 17th and 18th
10:18
century atlases to a host of 19th
10:21
century European travel logs and
10:22
accounts under the nen Dynasty then the
10:25
following French Colonial period the
10:27
spratley appeared on maps as Vietnamese
10:29
territory atory while the paracels were
10:30
actively explored measured and leveraged
10:33
for economic benefit while Japanese
10:35
expansion then World War II then a host
10:37
of Wars across Vietnam in the following
10:39
decades loosen the grip of French than
10:41
Vietnamese hold of the archipelagos it
10:43
is Vietnam's continued belief that their
10:45
historical claims to the islands
10:46
predates any other claim and are claims
10:49
that have never been retracted across
10:51
its tumultuous past as for Malaysia and
10:54
brunai comprising the southern rim of
10:56
the South China Sea their claims are
10:58
grounded Less in historical usage and
11:00
More in each nation's interpretation of
11:02
international agreements Malaysia for
11:05
instance justifies its claim to a host
11:07
of Around a dozen reefs Sholes and
11:09
Islands as a matter of geography as the
11:11
features they claim fall within the
11:12
borders of a 1979 map that outlined the
11:14
nation's exclusive economic zone as well
11:16
as the extent of its continental shelf
11:19
the relatively tiny nation of brunai has
11:21
also articulated its claims to spratly
11:23
Island features in relation to its e
11:26
resulting in its claim and Malaysia's
11:28
recently dropped claim to the tiny
11:30
Louisa Reef sitting squarely within
11:32
bruni's narrow sliver of exclusive
11:34
Waterway then finally there's the
11:37
Philippines now the Philippines has
11:39
Justified its claims to certain features
11:41
within the spratley islands and the
11:42
scarber scha through their own far more
11:45
recent interpretation of history after
11:47
Japan relinquished control over the
11:49
spratley following World War II they
11:51
were the first to explore the unclaimed
11:53
territory and so they held sovereignty
11:55
over the features they explored they in
11:57
the Philippines logic all also inherited
11:59
the Scarboro Shaw after becoming
12:01
independent from the United States who
12:03
previously held the territory but in
12:05
recent years the Philippines has also
12:07
leverage geology and international
12:09
agreements to strengthen its claim
12:10
Beyond its historical framing across the
12:13
South Tennessee then overlapping
12:15
historical narratives and geographical
12:17
justifications have resulted in
12:19
overlapping claims to the smallest most
12:21
marginal slivers of land imaginable
12:24
fortunately though for China Taiwan
12:26
Vietnam Malaysia brunai the Philippines
12:28
and the rest of the world World
12:29
monitoring Rising tensions and their
12:31
potential implications in the South
12:32
China Sea there is this the United
12:35
Nations convention on the law of the sea
12:38
now this document does a lot it for
12:41
instance establishes who can do what out
12:43
on the high seas Beyond any sort of
12:45
territorial water or exclusive economic
12:47
zone it also establishes what
12:49
territorial waters are and what
12:51
exclusive economic zones are issues
12:53
critically important in understanding
12:55
why the South China SE islands and reefs
12:57
are contested to begin with the 12
12:59
nautical mile buffer of territorial
13:01
Waters extend a nation's exclusive
13:03
sovereignty and the 200 nautical mile
13:05
buffer of exclusive economic zones
13:07
extend a nation's Sovereign right for
13:08
economic activity and in combination
13:10
they fuel claims across the sea given
13:13
the resourcer waters surrounding them in
13:16
this way this International agreement
13:18
which 169 countries have ratified
13:20
including all South China SE countries
13:22
except for Taiwan has created a problem
13:25
but fortunately this same document also
13:28
provides AE framework to settle disputes
13:31
should a country have an issue
13:32
concerning the interpretation or
13:33
application of the convention they could
13:35
turn to Annex 7 and trigger an arbitral
13:38
tribunal and so in 2013 with China
13:41
exerting its power across the South
13:43
China Sea Under territorial
13:44
justification of the nine dashes the
13:46
Philippines brought forward an
13:47
arbitration case to be settled far away
13:50
at the hag more specifically they
13:52
brought up 15 separate issues for the
13:54
tribunal to rule on all of which falling
13:56
within three broad baskets the ENT of
13:59
China's Maritime entitlements and how
14:01
far they reached into the South China
14:02
Sea whether or not a host of shs and
14:05
reefs were Islands or low tight
14:06
elevations and whether or not China has
14:08
encroached on the philippines's
14:10
exclusive Waters then in 2016 in the
14:13
form of a 501 page document the region
14:16
gained a whole lot of clarity for the
14:19
small archipelagic country of the
14:21
Philippines it was a sweeping Victory
14:24
Mischief reef and second Thomas scha the
14:26
ruling deemed were low tied elevations
14:30
thus not entitling either to a
14:31
territorial sea designation or an
14:34
exclusive economic zone for China even
14:36
if their sovereignty over the atol was
14:38
legitimate the tribunal also deemed that
14:41
China's historical claims to the South
14:42
China Sea through the 9- line were
14:45
contrary and superseded by the
14:46
convention finally the tribunal went on
14:49
to declare that China had also failed to
14:51
uphold environmental and preservation
14:53
protections that were agreed to under
14:54
the convention within what was
14:56
effectively Philippine Waters in all
14:59
three broad buckets of complaints issued
15:01
by the Philippines China was found in
15:03
the wrong the news emanated from the hag
15:06
and quickly spread via all the world's
15:08
largest Outlets but then nothing really
15:12
changed for one the ruling from the
15:15
beginning was hamstrung by its own
15:17
framework it was intended to clear up
15:19
definitions designations and adherence
15:21
to the convention but it would not rule
15:23
on any issue of sovereignty of the Rocks
15:25
Sholes or Islands dotting the South
15:27
China Sea then there was the the simple
15:29
fact that China decided to take no part
15:32
in the arbitration proceedings rather
15:34
than appearing and representing at the
15:36
hag China instead offered a lengthy memo
15:39
that outlined their perceived
15:40
limitations of the tribunal that first
15:42
the UN Convention of the Seas could not
15:44
rule over issues of sovereignty and that
15:46
second China and the Philippines had
15:48
previously agreed that they would settle
15:50
disputes only through negotiation and
15:52
bilateral means something that this very
15:54
case had broken while the Philippines
15:57
had won on paper and in the of the un's
15:59
law of the sea China maintained that
16:01
that paper simply didn't mean much so
16:05
the United Nations the singular
16:07
institution most responsible for
16:09
resolving disputes between countries had
16:11
failed in this instance to do so and
16:14
it's not hard to understand why their
16:16
only real enforcement mechanism is
16:18
individual Nations enforcing un
16:20
declarations yet the only Nations that
16:22
appear interested in doing so are those
16:24
already a part of the simmering conflict
16:26
but the implication is that these
16:28
nations are in a low-level conflict in
16:30
what is functionally the high seas a
16:33
lawless Zone not technically but at
16:36
least functionally based on the
16:37
breakdown of the very treaty designed to
16:40
rectify that so what ensues is State
16:44
sanctioned chaos this is the brpc Madre
16:48
the grounded Philippine ship defended by
16:50
the nation's Marines and within the
16:51
Lagoon well these are Chinese vessels
16:55
likely Coast Guard ships in recent
16:57
months they've sat there almost
16:58
continuously attempting to block access
17:01
to the Sierra Madre necessary for the
17:03
Philippines to shuttle food in and swap
17:05
Marines out to maintain their continuous
17:07
presence this is actual footage from one
17:10
such attempt in March 2024 the Chinese
17:12
Coast Guard vessels attempt to position
17:14
themselves in front of the Philippine
17:16
ships to block their path to the shaw or
17:18
to intimidate them into turning around
17:20
and then to ramp pressure higher the
17:22
Chinese vessels deploy their
17:23
high-powered water cannons against the
17:25
Philippine vessels which in this casee
17:27
shattered the windows of a Philippine
17:28
ship injuring four Sailors to avoid the
17:32
riskiest sorts of Confrontation
17:33
occurring directly between Chinese and
17:35
Philippine military forces the
17:36
Philippines hires these smaller civilian
17:38
vessels to shuttle supplies from the
17:40
larger vessels directly to the Sierra
17:42
Madre itself but that has potentially
17:44
only limited the Fallout in the months
17:47
that followed such confrontations became
17:49
such a regular occurrence that it's
17:50
tough to sort between them Philippine
17:52
injuries and ship damage have stacked up
17:54
leading all to speculate on what could
17:57
be next now any instance of two powerful
18:00
Nations confronting each other in such
18:02
an aggressive manner is concerning but
18:04
what ramps up concerns further is the
18:06
fact that this can't be considered a
18:08
simple China Philippines confrontation
18:10
due to this the US and philippines's
18:13
mutual defense treaty the Philippines
18:16
used to be a US Territory and as part of
18:18
the unwinding of that relationship the
18:20
two Nations signed this treaty that
18:22
essentially stipulated that if anyone
18:24
attacked the US the Philippines would
18:25
help the US defend and if anyone
18:27
attacked the Philippines the US would
18:29
help the Philippines defend that treaty
18:31
is still active and all indications
18:33
suggest that the two Nations intend to
18:35
follow through on its terms as leaders
18:37
from both have reiterated its active
18:39
status in public time and time again and
18:42
in 2023 military leaders from both came
18:45
together to clarify what specifically
18:48
might invoke participation by one of the
18:50
partners in the other's conflict and
18:52
that spurred the inclusion of this
18:54
concerningly Direct Line quote an armed
18:57
attack in the Pacific to include
18:59
anywhere in the South China Sea on
19:01
either Philippine or us Armed Forces
19:04
which includes both Nations as coast
19:06
guards aircraft or public vessels would
19:08
invoke mutually defense commitments
19:09
under Article 4 and Article 5 of the
19:12
MDT what has happened continuously over
19:15
the past few months were attacks in the
19:17
South China Sea on Philippine ships from
19:20
their Coast Guard the only facet of
19:22
these incidents that kept them from
19:24
invoking the mutual defense treaty is
19:26
that water cannons do not cross the
19:27
threshold of what is considered an armed
19:30
attack yet the fact that the US was just
19:32
one word away from being pulled into a
19:34
military conflict with China is
19:36
undoubtedly concerning of course China
19:40
knows this they know how massive the
19:42
difference between water cannons and
19:44
guns are in the consequences they will
19:45
suffer but as in any military conflict
19:48
there is always the potential for
19:50
miscalculation this has led some defense
19:52
analyst to ask whether the theoretical
19:54
us China conflict that so many fear will
19:57
start not through the inuitive path like
19:59
Taiwan but rather on an insignificant
20:02
isolated Coral atle in the South China
20:05
Sea the danger in the South China Sea
20:07
stems from the fact that some Nations
20:10
care enough to fight for it yet others
20:12
don't care enough to arbitrate as it has
20:15
for so so long the conflict will simmer
20:19
and simmer there's every chance that it
20:21
will stay that way and that the tenuous
20:23
status quo will maintain but what makes
20:25
observers so worried is the fact that
20:27
China has continuously been willing to
20:30
challenge the status quo at one time
20:32
building land was unprecedented later on
20:34
building military capable runways was
20:36
unprecedented and then sending military
20:38
ships and aircraft to the islands was
20:40
and then arming the islands with
20:41
Weaponry was and now regular direct
20:44
military to military confrontations is
20:46
the new unprecedented normal yet when
20:50
sitting so so close to the existential
20:52
line with the trend line progressing
20:54
closer and closer to that very line it
20:57
appears pragmatic to worry about what
21:00
will happen
21:02
next if you're anything like me you were
21:05
probably surprised to hear that
21:06
something as significant as China having
21:08
repeated tense Maritime conflicts with a
21:10
country with a mutual defense treaty
21:12
with the United States is happening
21:14
right now considering you probably heard
21:15
nothing about it and I think that has a
21:17
lot to do with the way that ADP
21:18
supported news media reports on conflict
21:21
typically they put all the focus on the
21:23
start of major conflicts in Western
21:24
Nations and you hear so little about all
21:26
the other very significant conflicts
21:28
occurring elsewhere that's why nebula
21:30
and the team at real life Lord developed
21:32
the show the War Room every month they
21:34
release a video that goes into the
21:36
nitty-gritty day-to-day progression of
21:38
the world's most covered conflicts like
21:39
Ukraine and Gaza and underreported ones
21:42
like in Haiti and Ecuador I think it's
21:44
both a really interesting and
21:45
informative show and it digests a level
21:47
of knowledge about the world's events
21:48
that almost no one knows down to just 30
21:50
or so minutes each month and this is
21:52
just one of plenty of great original
21:54
programming made possible by nebula it's
21:57
a crater founded crater owned and
21:58
Creator run streaming platform that was
22:00
designed from the beginning to create
22:02
the best ecosystem for creators to make
22:04
their best stuff the core of that is the
22:06
very fact that you have to pay for it
22:09
it's not outs supported but that means
22:11
we don't have incentive to clickbait we
22:12
do have incentive to make high quality
22:14
stuff that you'll actually watch and
22:15
will keep you subscribed and we have the
22:17
funding to invest in Far higher
22:18
production value than we can here on
22:20
YouTube we know from the analytics that
22:22
we have a higher retention rate than
22:23
almost every streamer in the industry
22:25
meaning the people who sign up choose to
22:27
say subscribed far far more often than
22:29
with the bigger streamers and nebula
22:30
costs a whole lot less too especially if
22:33
you use our link
22:57
nebula.com to sign up and thanks in
22:59
advance for your support
The Six-Country Fight Over These Tiny, Terrible Islands - Video học tiếng Anh
