Spratleys, du rififi en mer de Chine

Malaysia, on the frontiers of the Philippines, in the middle of what is called the South China Sea, some ragged rocks stick out to almost form an archipelago: the Spratlys. A score of islands, a hundred little islets, coral reefs, and atolls which are mostly uninhabitable. Nonetheless, a major diplomatic conflict is being played out there between the major power, China, and its five "vassals" because the Spratlys have oil and gas, and the largest fishery resources in the region. They also control the sea routes of a third of the world's maritime traffic and are a marker for all the airlines between Europe and Asia. Possession of the Spratlys means holding the geostrategic key to the region. The competing countries have decided to "occupy the terrain" by sending civilian and military personnel to survive on these isolated rocks, as voluntary hostages in a diplomatic standoff. Their lives are at once tragic and farcical: their only companions are sun, typhoons, thirst and loneliness, but they are always thinking up new schemes