Ecological Aspect of the Conflict in the South China Sea
The
territorial conflict in the South China Sea, smouldering for several
decades already, has suddenly gained a new meaning: ecological. That is
attributed to the China constructing artificial islands. From the point
of the Philippines, this construction activity endangers the unique
ecosystem of the sea basin, which is one of the richest in the world in
terms of biodiversity, first of all, because of the variety of fishes
and corals, and that can have negative consequences on the food security
of millions of people who live in the region.
The
Ministry for Foreign Affairs of the Philippines has made a statement in
which it condemned the Chinese policies on the assumption that “they
take active measures on the land development which inflict irreparable
damage to the biodiversity and undermine the ecological balance in the
South China Sea/West Philippine Sea. China implements these projects
unilaterally and ignores the interests of the people of other counties
whose existence, historically, has been dependent on the sea. The
following figures are given in support of the statement: in the process
of creating artificial islands China has eliminated 121.4 hectares of
coral reefs, which equals to the $100 mln of economic damage to the
coastal counties annually. The data is based on the researches carries
out by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and independent
scholars.
Ministry for Foreign Affairs of the Philippines has made a statement in
which it condemned the Chinese policies on the assumption that “they
take active measures on the land development which inflict irreparable
damage to the biodiversity and undermine the ecological balance in the
South China Sea/West Philippine Sea. China implements these projects
unilaterally and ignores the interests of the people of other counties
whose existence, historically, has been dependent on the sea. The
following figures are given in support of the statement: in the process
of creating artificial islands China has eliminated 121.4 hectares of
coral reefs, which equals to the $100 mln of economic damage to the
coastal counties annually. The data is based on the researches carries
out by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and independent
scholars.
First appeared: http://journal-neo.org/2015/10/23/ecological-aspect-of-the-conflict-in-the-south-china-sea/
