HN Explorer

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keiferski
The unexpected growth spurt was not the result of strange geological forces, nor the invasion of a foreign land, but the States attempting to lay claim to its surrounding ocean-floor territory.

I would change the title to “US claims ocean-floor territory” or something similar.

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huytersd
Added the size of two Californias. Might be useful in the future for offshore wind power and for fisheries.
Gee8r9
Maybe they can now stop occupying part of Syria and stealing their oil?!
quotz
Or maybe even Gaza, in a short matter of time they can add it as well
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Danjoe4
But gas is expensive rn and I need to drive my oversized truck around.
quotz
Or a souped up wrangler that will see the offroad trails maybe once a year if its lucky
nostromo
Just pull a China and build a few artificial islands out there and expand your territorial waters significantly.
guidedlight
Manmade structures are not recognised in international law. This is why Sealand cannot be recognised as a nation.
indemnity
International law is for the countries that do not have sufficient power to act unilaterally..,
roygbiv2
There are various reasons why it can't. The main one being that: > Since 1987, when the United Kingdom extended its territorial waters to 12 nautical miles, the platform has been in British territory.
vmfunction
Not really US style! As someone once said: "US is run by lawyers, and China engineer." And it is very telling how they both approach this issue of territory expansion.
nebula8804
People tend to use this quote to disparage the US but try asking the Uyghurs and you'll see how treating every problem as an engineering problem is not always a great idea.

If you also look at TikTok through this lens it also explains a lot about how it operates.

softskunk
> “If somebody came back and said, ‘Your science is bad,’ I think the United States would listen,” Treadwell told the media. “But I don’t think science is bad. I think we’ve had very good science.”

This is a very strange way to say nothing. Why is this guy talking to the media?

hiddencost
He's referring to China which is doing things like constructing artificial islands to make bad faith claims to territory.

The point is that he's trying to portray this work as honest, and part of honesty means acknowledging and adjusting when you're mistaken.

RecycledEle
China will point out the irony (from their point if view) in the USA claiming more ocean while denying China the "right" to claim Taiwan, the Philippines, and many more nations.