Riau Islands

I thought I was done with lines only to hear tonight of the nine dash line in the South China sea. Those familiar with military history know about it, but civilians like me are ignorant. In the 2009 China presented a map of the South zchin Sea containing 9 dashes, saying the dashes enclosed the area of the South China Sea that they and Taiwan claimed. Vietnam Nam, Indonesia, Brunei and Malaysia objected. To substantiate their map China has been laying claim to uninhabited islands in the South China sea. If these claims are recognized China will have territorial rights extending 12 miles from each island and exclusive economic rights extending 200 miles out. In addition China has been constructing artificial islands that also serve military objectives. The Phillipines brought the issue up with the World Court who agreed with the Phillipines but China refuses to recognize the decision. Meanwhile we hear about South sea aerial and marine territorial conflicts with China. Interestingly images of the nine dash line appears in movies such as Barbie and Abominable, textbooks printed in China that are used by other countries, an ESPN sports cast and even the Chinese passport. The movies have been banned; the textbooks removed; the sportscast protested; and the Chinese passport rejected in the Philippines and Vietnam. An interesting issue to follow.Read more