Friday, August 16, 2013

France claims the British Isles at the United Nations

"France on Thursday made a presentation on its Partial Submission Concerning the Outer Limits of the Continental Shelf beyond 200 nautical miles to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS) under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea ( UNCLOS).

France said the natural prolongation of the continental shelf of France extends to the British Islands and beyond 200 nautical miles from the baseline from which the breadth of the territorial sea of Britanny is measured.

According to the UNCLOS and its relevant provisions, if the continental shelf of a coastal state extends beyond 200 nautical miles from the baselines from which the width of the territorial sea is measured, information on the limits of the continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles shall be submitted by the coastal state to the CLCS under the UNCLOS."
Okay. Replace "France" with "China" and "British Isles" with "Okinawa Trough" and you get the core of the message released by Xinhua yesterday (see "China makes presentation on outer limits of continental shelf in East China Sea to UN" - Global Times - 20130816).

Here's the Okinawa Trough:



NB: the closest piece of land are Japan and Taiwan. And note that you can even find a few Koreans who also claim Okinawa.

And here's the continental shelf supporting the British Isles (obviously we frogs have a much easier case than the stretched Chinese one):



NB: I could also have made Denmark claim the British Isles (a perfectly rotten joke for the Bard), but my country has had a legitimate right to do so ever since Guillaume le Conquerant took over England, back in 1066 (yup, 900 years before England stole the Holy Grail from German barbarians - at one stage, a giant called Geoff supposedly did a dirty trick involving a hat).


PS: to my many British friends, please keep your shelf control, and remember that you invented humor. And yes, the ball crossed the line in 1966 (anyway according to recent news, that West Germany team was probably loaded).
Stephane

Seoul Village 2013
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