>>49934749The story here is that China dumped a shitload of sand onto some near-the-surface sand piles, and then used the idea that they manufactured these "islands" to claim that they own up to 12 nautical miles outside of them like they would if these were naturally formed islands. We're saying that we can sail to within 12 nautical miles because those man-made "islands" don't extend China's territorial waters the way China claims they do.
The issue is that the UN says that claiming that much area around ultimately man-made islands is illegal, but no country on Earth except for the United States has the power and willingness to stand up for international law here. This is a move that every country in the area, including Taiwan, aside from China wanted us to make.
