BY SAMMY JULIAN
SOUTH China Sea is believed to contain significant resources.
However, disputes over its islands, reefs and atolls have made it hard both to gauge the scope of its riches as well as to exploit them.
China claims the sea nearly in its entirety, seeing it as its historic waters, a source of energy for a rapidly growing country and a lifeline for its commerce. The sea is also claimed in part by five other governments, including the Philippines.
But beyond its potential riches, the waters are also a vital passageway between the Indian and Pacific oceans, with ships carrying approximately one-quarter of global seaborne trade.
Nearly a third of global crude oil and more than half of global liquefied natural gas pass through the sea – much of it heading to China and northeast Asia. The US Navy routinely sends ships through the waters and maintains a steady presence around the Strait of Malacca, near Singapore, which serves as a gateway to the South China Sea.
The sea is also the source of about six percent of the world’s annual catch of herring, sardines, anchovies and other fish and seafood, or around six million tons.
Including unconfirmed deposits, it is believed that more than one-third of China’s total oil and gas reserves may lie beneath the South China Sea. Estimates show the sea to have around 11 billion barrels of oil and 190 trillion cubic feet in proved and probable reserves.
While its reserves are thought to be small compared with some other energy-producing regions, including North America, they could help China reduce dependence on energy from the Middle East and Africa.
Thus, it is easy to understand why tensions escalate every now and then in the region between rival claimants because control of South China Sea gives the holder the right to extract hydrocarbons and manage fisheries in the waters around them.
Foreign affairs experts point out that since the South China Sea is a vital economic lifeline for all major trading nations in the world, disruption and instability in the region has potential economic cost for all of us./PN
