Argentina Sinks Chinese Fishing Vessel: Like China, Argentina Has Established a 200 Mile Economic Exclusion Zone and This is the Result

A Chinese fishing vessel dared to fish inside Argentina’s 200 mile exclusion zone that they’ve established off their coastline, and the Argentinian Coast Guard opened fire and sent it to the bottom of the ocean.

China is demanding an investigation.  I hope they remember this when they start doing the same to ships that operate in their own disputed zone.  They haven’t done so yet, but they’re militarizing some of the reefs.  How long can it be?

The Law of the Sea Treaty establishes the 12 mile limit; China and Argentina are signatories. 

Anything past the 12 mile limit is and should remain international waters. 

I think our planet has enough trouble without adding the possibility of nations going to war over fishing boats and oil platforms.   Here’s a map that illustrates the problem.  With so many maritime borders overlapping already, tacking another 200 miles on compounds the problem.

China has claimed waters that are far beyond their territory.  From where the disputed islands are on the map, they’re definitely not Chinese.  Other nations have a much better claim on the islands and the surrounding waters.  A case was brought to the Hague, but China argued that it didn’t have jurisdiction. 

China’s entire argument is that it had a 2,000 year old claim to the islands.  If China was still ruled by an Emperor, that might hold more water, but China got rid of their last Emperor. 

Vietnam’s territorial claims are almost as vast as China’s, except their claims have been validated by the U.N.

The Philippines claims seem to be the closest to making sense.  The disputed islands are much closer to the Philippines than any other nation.

Here’s the timeline of the court case in the Hague between the Philippians and China.  The court is still deciding if it has jurisdiction to settle this mess, which I hope that it does.