Two people were killed doing the work, but not on my watch thank goodness!
Sleep is such a blessed thing.
Which Chinese reef or islet should the Blaircrarft carrier challenge first?
Should it be the biggest one? Or the smallest one?
Should it be the most British one? Or the least Brtitish one and work up from there?
Decisions decisions.
So you think that they may be tilting at coral when could be celebrating choral evensong back here in Blighty?
While I see where you are coming from with respect to the history of these things, it is hard not to feel that the running sandbars of Chinese imperialism should be challenged, and if so, then why not by a bunch of British types say I.
I mentioned crabs but I suspect that the RAF are sitting fuming that they can't be part of the fun, while their Lordships in the Admiralty sip good sherry and have some fun at the expense of the old duffers in the other services!
If imperialism be the thing, then better it is British what!
I ask you all to rise, raise a glass to Hawke and sing the following in rousing chorus with me...
Though you remain
Convinced
"To be alive
You must have somewhere
To go
Your destination remains
Elusive."
Documentary film maker Chris Terrill will be onboard HMS Queen Elizabeth for the duration of the deployment, in order to produce a documentary series for the BBC in succession to his two previous series about life on the carrier. No doubt UP will see CSG21 as an excuse for more.....
The definition is 12 nautical miles (22.224km) from the Lowest Astronomical Tide line of any land or island or islet or shoal which protrudes above the low tide mark.
One exception is the US which has granted itself a 24 mile limit, but the civilised world uses the 12nm definition, not 24.
The land does not need to be inhabited or even inhabitable to qualify for the territorial water to be part of the territory, but the 200mn Exclusive Economic Zone only applies to habitable land. For example, Rockall, which is both uninhabited and uninhabitable has a 12nm limit but does not qualify as a baseline for the UK EEZ.
Building up an islet or submerged rock to above LAT, thereby increasing the surface area and extending the dimension in any direction, such as the British building an artificial island for Hong Kong's airport or the Japanese building one for Toyo's airport, does qualify as extending the baseline for the purposes of establishing the 12nm baseline. The Chinese have done this on several of their islands in the South China Sea. It's all perfectly legitimate in International Law.
