Why the Chinese are so territorial about the South China Sea

They say some things have to be seen to be believed, which is probably why the sight of a jaunty Mark Zuckerberg jogging through Tiananmen Square was almost unbelievable – unless you were there. Am I saying that the chairman, chief executive, and co-founder of Facebook rather made a fool of himself? Well, yes, I am. But in one way or the other, at one time or another – whether peddling a bicycle or bloviating on a mainland lecture tour (me) – we all have made fools of ourselves about China. In this sense, the multi-billionaire Harvard dropout loses no more face than any of us, myself surely included.

China is hard to get right. Once the anti-social network of violence associated with Islamist extremism is contained – and it will be (in part because of the emerging dynamics of the larger peaceful Muslim world) – China will stand alone as the West’s prime number.

One reason for this can be illuminated by philosophy’s hypothesis of the Twin Earth. Use your imagination, the late Harvard professor Hilary Putnam would urge his students, and envision two planets existing at the same time which appear virtually identical – person by person, tree by tree, barking dog by dog, annoying child by annoying child – except for one thing: their water.

Now this is key: On Planet Earth, water is exactly as we earthlings know it: H2O. But on Planet Twin, while its water would look to Planet Earth-ers just like H2O, its chemistry is different – let’s dub it “Shui Too Oh”. So if a Planet Earth person were to visit Planet Twin, people on both sides might understand each other well enough indeed, until they came to the subject of water: then they would be talking about two different things.

Australia calls Beijing’s South China Sea moves ‘counterproductive

Such confusion now roils the politics of the South China Sea. This simple metaphor helps fathom the intensity of the current political storm over the slender islands, rocky islets, and semi-manufactured sand-landing strips from Planet Twin, which sees the world one way; whereas Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam, on Planet Earth, see the water in another. The reality divide has become fearsome. Chinese fishing vessels swarm the waters as if they own it; smaller nations push back in anger. Boats are bumping, crew are jumping, politicians’ fists are pumping, and US warships are intruding and over-flying … so who’s losing or has lost their mind?