The zones

The week is starting red hot on the far east. Japan and the Philippines have officially begun negotiations on where exactly the boundaries of their exclusive economic zones (EEZs) lie in the Pacific Ocean. These zones happen to be too close to or even within Taiwan realm, and China has decided it’s not going to let this one pass. This is a huge gray area because depending on who you ask, China does not have jurisdiction over Taiwan. An EEZ extends up to 200 nautical miles (about 370 km) from a country’s baseline (usually the coast or relevant islands). Within its EEZ, a coastal state has sovereign rights for (1) Exploring and exploiting natural resources (oil, gas, fish, etc) or (2) Managing economic activities like energy production. China has not sent its Navy to the conflict area, but civilian ships, to avoid an outright military confrontation, but this conflict can escalate quickly if not resolved diplomatically. On top of that, we need to see what are the consequences for South East Asia of a pronologed closure of Hormuz, as they are running out of oil, and the US Startegic reserves are also running low. Trump will not be able to export to everyone at will. Pretty soon, all those counties are going to knock on Russia’s door for oil, which will likely create tension and countries may be forced to choose sides. In this case, the nationalistic approach of the U.S. to geopolitics might become a problem.

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