superpowers are facing off
over this
and there are military exercises one
after another i'm going to tell you why
everyone is fighting over the south
china sea
different countries claim ownership of
islands and rips
as a crossroads linking the pacific and
indian oceans
the south china sea has trade routes
worth over 3
trillion a year it carries a third of
all global shipping
plus it's estimated to have large
reserves of
oil and gas and a lot of fish
which means it's worth fighting for
each country has their own patch and
what's left is
international waters but china sees
things differently
they claim about 90 of it these mostly
historical claims were published
on the map back in 1947 it showed
what was to become the 9-dash line used
to mock out china's territory
but courts in 2016 dismissed china's
arguments
and classed many of the islands as rocks
but china has ignored us others are also
arguing over who owns the islands taiwan
malaysia
and brunei have claims as do the
philippines and vietnam
who have been building on disputed
islands
china has built more artificial islands
in the area than
any other country and this breaks
international law
these were once coral reefs and rocks
but they have now become bases and
uninvited visitors
are not welcome
i'm holding you again immediately china
has tightened its military grip
on south china sea in the recent years
and won't be easing it anytime soon
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although the us it's not directly
involved
lately it has been sending more warships
to the south china sea
to stand up for the freedom of
navigation
but this isn't going down well in
beijing
and china's military exercises have
ramped up
which has made everyone nervous and now
the baiden administration has pledged to
back its airlines
working together with japan australia
and india
to counter china's growing presence
american leadership
must meet this new moment of advancing
authoritarianism including the growing
ambitions of china
to rival the united states this
leaves countries with claims in the
south china sea navigating the stormy
waters between superpowers
while defending their own national
interests
even though these islands might not look
like much
the states here are incredibly high and
the risk of military conflict
is growing
you