标题: Economist, Nov 15, 2014 (II) [打印本页] 作者: choi 时间: 11-18-2014 18:27 标题: Economist, Nov 15, 2014 (II) (2) Maritime power | Your Rules or Mine? Trade depends on order at sea, but keeping it is far from straightforward. www.economist.com/news/special-r ... rward-your-rules-or
Quote:
"According to statistics gathered by Michael McDevitt, a retired rear-admiral at America’s Centre for Naval Analyses, it is now the world’s largest shipbuilder; has the third-largest merchant marine, and by far the largest number of vessels flying its own flag; and boasts a 695,000-strong fishing fleet. It accounts for about a quarter of the world’s container trade. And almost all the steel boxes shipped on the world’s oceans are made in China, too.
"It has also sought to stop American naval and air-force vessels operating in its exclusive economic zone (EEZ), 200 nautical miles from its shoreline (see map), which America and many of its allies consider a violation of UNCLOS [the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea].
"According to Mr [author Bill] Hayton, the South China Sea itself plays an historic role in the crafting of the rules in contention. In 1603 the Dutch East India Company seized a Portuguese ship laden with raw silk and gold near the Strait of Malacca and hired a Dutch jurist, Hugo Grotius, to defend its action. He wrote a book in Latin called 'Mare Liberum' ('The Free Sea'), arguing that the seas were international territory and should be open to all. Over the following centuries this was used by global powers as justification to sail merchant vessels where they liked, often with gunboats sailing alongside to enforce their authority. Built loosely on 'Mare Liberum,' UNCLOS established the EEZ concept which gave coastal nations exclusive rights over natural resources within a 200 nautical-mile limit but allowed for free navigation and overflights outside territorial waters extending to 12 nautical miles from the coast. * * * But China’s interpretation (and that of a small group of large developing countries such as India and Brazil) differs from that of most states: it requires naval vessels to seek its permission before entering its EEZ.
:Chuck Hagel, America’s defence secretary, says America will oppose any effort to restrict overflight or freedom of navigation. It will ‘not look the other way,’ he told his defence counterparts at the Shangri-La Dialogue in May.
“In late September more than 18,000 American army, navy, air force and marine corps personnel took part in an unprecedented joint exercise off the Pacific island of Guam. Without explicitly saying so, it was aimed at testing responses to the sort of “sea-denial” strategy (missiles, submarines and cyber-attacks) * * * That was the second time this year a Chinese vessel was seen snooping in American waters during war games.
Note:
(a) "COMMUTERS BETWEEN MARIN COUNTY and San Francisco [see] container ships, bearing China’s flag and name, plough along under the glorious Golden Gate Bridge. They are bringing goods into the Port of Oakland—and taking back America’s trade deficit. Any pleasure yachts zipping around the bay give them a wide berth."
(i) Marin County, California
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marin_County,_California
(is across the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco; named after "Marin," great chief of the tribe Licatiut)
(ii) berth (n): "an amount of distance maintained for safety <give the fire a wide berth>" www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/berth
(b) "Mr Kausikan of the Singapore foreign ministry goes further."
Foreign Affairs Permanent Secretary Bilahari KAUSIKAN retired on June 1, 2013.
(c) “In 1603 the Dutch East India Company seized a Portuguese ship laden with raw silk and gold near the Strait of Malacca and hired a Dutch jurist, Hugo Grotius, to defend its action. He wrote a book in Latin called 'Mare Liberum' ('The Free Sea')”
(i) Santa Catarina (ship)
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Catarina_(ship)
(ii) Catarina
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catarina
(a Portuguese and Italian form of the name Katherine)
(iii) Latin English dictionary
* mare (noun neuter): "sea"
en.wiktionary.org/wiki/mare
* liber (adjective masculine): "free, unrestricted"
en.wiktionary.org/wiki/liber
* clausum
(noun neuter): "enclosed space"
(adjective): "closed| inaccessible (places)"
The English noun "closet" and adjective "close" come from this Latin word.
(d) "Chinese navy, though growing fast, is ill-prepared for war with such a doughty opponent."