Between a rock and a hard place?
Tiny islands, reefs, and uninhabitable rocks are all in the news now, as nations fight for the seabed and fishing rights that come with them.
Battlegrounds include the Spratly islands In the South China sea, Rockall in the North Atlantic and Okinotorishima in the Pacific. The BuffPo takes a closer look at these often surreal territorial disputes.
BATTLEZONE 1: The Spratly Islands
Vietnam has built nine lighthouses in the Spratly archipelago since 1993. In pure geopolitical terms, Hanoi calls them "sovereignty markers." The lighthouses are powered through solar energy and function non-stop.
China has violated the air and sea spaces of its neighbors, including Malaysia and the Philippines, prompting them not only to lodge diplomatic complaints but also to scramble their own forces in response.
These events made us want to look closer at the disputes countries have over small islets and rocks who would not be of any use if it wasn't for the existence of exclusive economic zones (EEZ).
BATTLEZONE 2: Rockall
Who owns Rockall? The British navy annexed this 25-meter wide, 17-meter high rock in 1955 by hoisting the Union Jack and cementing a brass plaque on its storm-washed summit. The UK's 1972 Island of Rockall Act formally declared it to be part of Inverness shire, even though the city Itself is some 600km away. Indeed, Ireland is nearer, at 430 km (270 miles) and the Irish Government have not recognized these titles, nor have Iceland or Denmark (on behalf of the Faroe Islands) with their own competing claims.
BATTLEZONE 3: Okinotorishima Atoll
Japan is Spending $107 Million to build a deepwater pier and a lighthouse on this tiny Pacific atoll in the Philippine Sea about 1,000 miles south of Tokyo. Despite its diminutive size, Okinotorishima would extend Japan's Exclusive Economic
Zone far into the Pacific Ocean.
Zone far into the Pacific Ocean.
BATTLEZONE 4: The Falkland Islands
In 1982, Argentina invaded the Falklands, which it claims as the "Islas Malvinas", as well as South Georgia, some 1500 miles to the east in the fighting that followed nearly 1,000 people died.
The reason these rocks matter is that their owners can register claims to the seabed up to 648 km offshore. Crucially, however, the UN has declared that "Rocks which cannot sustain human habitation or economic life of their own shall have no exclusive economic zone or continental shelf".
France's southern gems
The "French Southern and Antarctic Lands" is a nature reserve very far away from any human activity. But as with the uninhabited rocks, in fact, the main value of these islands for France is their huge EEZ (Exclusive Economic Zone) of 672 969 km², larger than France itself! The territory also recently became the largest site ever classified by UNESCO. The region includes the Kerguelen Islands, a land and marine reserve comprising one of the greatest diversities of birds and mammals in the world. Seals, seabirds and penguins are numerous but only a handful of people actually live here - perhaps as low as 45 in the winters.
By our Geopolitics office in Domfront…
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