The Borders We Share: Cimmeria’s Dust, South China Sea (Post 7)

 

The Borders We Share: A New Way to Fix a Broken World

Section 2: Oil and Dust Disputes (Posts 7-12)

Blog Post #7: Cimmeria’s Dust, South China Sea: Rivals as Partners

The Dust That Divides

Laputa’s shores lie shrouded in a haze of dust—grit whipped by ceaseless winds, veiling reefs teeming with cod and oil beneath a restless sea. Cimmeria’s tribes, clad in furs weathered by time, stake their ancient claim: sands where their spears guard fishing skiffs bobbing in the tide. Across the waves, Ruritania’s royal rigs rise like steel sentinels, drilling into the seabed, their crowned flags fluttering with imperial defiance. The clash is primal: nomads against nobles, nets against pipes, dust against wealth. Yet Laputa is no mere tale—it mirrors the South China Sea, a 1.4-million-square-mile crucible where China’s nine-dash line encircles $3.4 trillion in trade (UNCTAD). Here, ASEAN nations—Vietnam, Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia—cast nets against Beijing’s dredgers. Rivals lock horns, but might they forge partnership?

I am Dr. Jorge Emilio Núñez—Dr. Jorge to you—and welcome to Section 2: Oil and Dust Disputes, where we chase resources that spark wars yet might kindle peace. After Section 1 paired Tintin’s Khemed with Crimea and Sherlock’s docks with Ireland, your fervor summoned Holmes anew. Today, he prowls Cimmeria’s rugged frontier, pipe aglow, unraveling claims amid Laputa’s dust. My Núñezian Integrated Multiverses—2017’s egalitarian shared sovereignty, 2020’s real-world disputes, 2023’s multidimensional lens—lights our path. Let us dive in, blending fiction and reality to share what’s contested.

Cimmeria’s Clash, South China Sea’s Stakes

Picture Cimmeria—a jagged realm of tribes, echoes of Conan’s wild hills softened by the sea, fishers not warriors. Laputa, their sacred isle, thrums with legend: reefs thick with fish, seabed oozing oil. Cimmerians, split into clans from Hyrkan to Vanaheim, row out at dawn, nets heavy, chanting tales of ancestors who fished free. Then enters Ruritania—operetta pomp, velvet cloaks masking iron wills. Their rigs, rooted a decade ago, siphon black gold; royal decrees proclaim Laputa’s shelf “crown waters.” Clans hurl stones; rigs belch flares. Dust chokes discourse—tribal elders plead for nets, nobles wave charters. Sound familiar?

Now gaze upon the South China Sea, a living cauldron. China’s nine-dash line, traced in 1947’s Nationalist ink, claims 90% of 1.4 million square miles, encompassing Spratly, Paracel, Macclesfield, and Pratas islands (Núñez, 2020, Ch. 7). Beijing grips nine reefs, forging ports and airstrips, pursuing oil (200 billion barrels, USGS) and fish (10% global catch, FAO). ASEAN counters:

• Vietnam: 2,000-mile coast—lifeblood to 50% of its 95 million—leans on a $2 billion navy.
• Philippines: Five Spratly outposts defy Duterte’s China tilt.
• Malaysia: Three islands whisper diplomacy.
• Brunei: Louisa Reef hints at gas.
• Indonesia: Natuna EEZ (200 nautical miles, UNCLOS) brushes China’s claim.
  Taiwan asserts all, clinging to one islet. Cambodia, ASEAN’s outlier, drinks 70% of its FDI from China (ADB), stalling unity.

The stakes soar—$3.4 trillion in trade flows yearly (UNCTAD). Vietnam halted Repsol’s Vanguard Bank drill in 2018 under Beijing’s glare (Núñez, 2020). Philippines pocketed $600 million from Japan in 2017, dwarfing China’s $31 million. Malaysia’s “Mahathir Doctrine” favors words over swords. Brunei stays mute, banking Chinese coin. Indonesia’s Natuna fishery feeds millions; 1.3 trillion cubic feet of gas (BP) lies beneath. China’s dredgers sculpt islands—a concrete challenge. Outsiders that stir the pot include:

• U.S.: 70-vessel 7th Fleet guards $5 trillion in trade (Japan’s artery).
• Australia: Tracks two-thirds of its exports.
• Japan: Funds ASEAN to counter Beijing.
  It’s Laputa’s dust redux: nets versus rigs, tribes versus crowns, a quantum web where one pull ripples all.

Sherlock’s Trail Through the Dust

The morn broke cold and gray over Cimmeria’s cliffs, a wind howling from the sea, laden with dust that stung the eyes and clung to the throat. Sherlock Holmes stood poised upon the crag, his Inverness cape lashing about him like a storm-tossed sail, his keen gaze piercing the haze toward Laputa’s shores. Beside him, I, Dr. John H. Watson, shivered in my greatcoat, marveling at the scene, while Dr. Jorge Emilio Núñez—Dr. Jorge, as he bids us call him—surveyed the horizon with a scholar’s intensity, his eyes alight with purpose.

Holmes dropped to one knee, his long fingers sifting the gritty sand. “Observe, Watson,” said he, his voice low yet cutting through the gale. “This dust is no mere shroud—it betrays the tale beneath.” He held aloft a grain, glinting faintly in the dim light. “Volcanic ash, borne from Laputa’s depths, mingled with salt spray and the detritus of human strife. A chronicle of conflict.” He rose, brushing his hands, and turned to the figures approaching through the murk.

Astrid, chieftess of the Hyrkan clan, emerged first, her fur mantle dusted white, her face carved by wind and woe. “Holmes,” she rasped, thrusting forth a net rent asunder, its cords frayed and blackened. “Our fathers fished these waters when Ruritania’s kings still suckled. Their iron beasts foul our blood.” Beyond her, the royal rigs loomed offshore, their steel frames wreathed in mist, crowned flags snapping insolently.

Count Leopold of Ruritania followed, his crimson cloak a slash of color against the gray, his boots gleaming despite the sand. “By royal writ of 1905,” he proclaimed, unfurling a parchment yellowed at the edges, “Laputa’s shelf is ours. The oil flows for the crown.” Holmes spared the document a fleeting glance, his attention seized instead by the ground—hoofprints of clan ponies crisscrossing bootmarks of noble guards, a lattice of raid and reprisal etched in the dust.

“Facts speak louder than parchment,” Holmes murmured, tracing a hoofprint with his stick. “The clans strike at dusk, torching pipes; the nobles retaliate, scattering nets with grapples. Yet the reef binds them.” He straightened, his pipe flaring as he drew upon it. “Astrid, your hauls dwindle—rig wakes churn the shoals?” She nodded, her jaw tight. “And you, Count—your yields falter, clogged by sabotage?” Leopold’s scowl was answer enough.

Holmes turned to me, Dr. Jorge, a faint smile curling his lips. “Your lens, Doctor—how does it pierce this fog of dust?” I met his gaze with a spark of my own. “My Núñezian Integrated Multiverses, Holmes—born in 2017, refined through 2023—sees beyond division. Egalitarian shared sovereignty: all speak, roles match skill, rewards mirror toil. But first, what do your eyes unveil?”

Holmes gestured seaward, his stick sketching a jagged line in the sand. “The shelf splits—shallows rich with fish, depths dark with oil. A boundary at 100 fathoms: clans net above, nobles bore below. Yet dust blinds them to their knot.” He paused, his eyes narrowing. “The rigs stir currents, driving cod from reefs; clan spears pierce pipes, bleeding profit. Neither holds all, yet both crave each.”

Watson interjected, his honest face creased with doubt. “Holmes, they’re at daggers drawn—clans see rigs as plunderers, nobles see nets as traps. How to yoke them?” Holmes’ pipe glowed red. “Through necessity, Watson. They must see the reef as one, not sundered. Your framework, Núñez—how does it bind?”

I stepped forward, the wind tugging at my coat. “Picture a council, Holmes—clans fish dawn to noon, nobles drill dusk to dawn. Oil splits 60-40: clans mend boats, nobles forge tech. Reefs zoned—half for nets, half for rigs. It’s no dream; my 2020 work maps it in the South China Sea. Vietnam’s nets and China’s drills can share.”

Watson blinked, his mustache twitching. “Vietnam? China? Explain that, Núñez!” I smiled, warming to the task. “Vietnam’s coast stretches 2,000 miles—50% of 95 million dwell there, their $2 billion navy guarding fish. China’s ports pump oil. An ASEAN council, China included, divides fish quotas, oil gains, trade lanes. My 2023 lens deepens it: agents—fishers, states; roles—hosts like Vietnam, watchers like the U.S.; contexts—ASEAN versus global trade; realms—survival, profit. Linear cures fail—China atop Brunei stirs chaos. Quantum threads link all: a dredger’s churn cuts Vietnam’s catch, rippling to Japan’s ships.”

Holmes tapped his pipe against his boot, eyes gleaming. “You’re entwined,” he said, addressing Astrid and Leopold. “The reef’s bounty is one—fish spawn where oil seeps, rigs shelter fry. Sunder it, and you wither. Share it, and you flourish. Núñez’s council offers a lever—pry hard, and dust yields.”

Watson, ever the pragmatist, murmured, “By Jove, Holmes—they see it.”

The Núñezian Lens: Sharing the Reefs

Sherlock Holmes’ deductions laid bare the truth of Laputa’s dust, but it is my Núñezian Integrated Multiverses that carves the path to peace. In Sovereignty Conflicts (2017), I forged egalitarian shared sovereignty—a framework built on four pillars:

• All speak: Clans and nobles each hold a voice on the council.
• Roles suit skills: Cimmerians fish, Ruritanians drill.
• Rewards mirror toil: Fish quotas for clans, oil profits for nobles (e.g., 60-40 split, favoring rigs yet funding clan boats).
• The mighty aid the meek: Nobles’ technology repairs nets, clans’ knowledge guides rig placement.

For Laputa, this translates to:

• Zoning: Shallows for fishing (dawn to noon), depths for drilling (dusk to dawn).
• Council: Equal seats for clan elders and noble stewards, governing quotas and zones.
• Outcome: Clans net fish, nobles pump oil, reefs endure.

But Laputa’s dust is not mere fiction—it echoes the South China Sea, where Vietnam’s fishers, China’s oil rigs, and ASEAN nations clash over the Spratly Islands. My 2020 work, Territorial Disputes (Ch. 7), maps a parallel:

• Vietnam: $2 billion navy guards fish (10% of global stock).
• China: Ports pump oil ($100 billion yearly, IEA).
• Trade: $3.4 trillion flows through these waters.

An ASEAN-led council could zone the sea:

• North: Vietnam fishes.
• South: Philippines fishes.
• Gas: Malaysia farms.
• Deep: China drills.
• Lanes: Brunei tolls.

Profits fund schools, gear, and rigs. The 2002 Declaration on Conduct (DOC) cut clashes—slowly, but it worked.

Yet what of China’s nine-dash line or U.S. patrols? My 2023 book, Cosmopolitanism and State Sovereignty (Ch. 6), introduces a pluralism of pluralisms:

• Agents: Fishers, Beijing, Washington.
• Roles: Vietnam hosts, U.S. watches.
• Contexts: ASEAN vs. global trade.
• Modes: Nets vs. rigs.

Nonlinear chaos—U.S. ships spike tension, China’s dredgers shift catches—is tamed by shared stakes. Zone the sea, and meddling loses bite. Small wins (e.g., oil funding Vietnam’s poor, 50% coastal) ripple outward.

Holmes nods. “Reason, Núñez, is the lever. Pry hard, and dust yields.”

Why It Matters

Laputa’s fishers are Vietnam’s mothers, Ruritania’s rigs are China’s laborers. The South China Sea powers your life—fuel, phones, food. This isn’t just a tale; it’s a map to share what divides us. I’m Dr. Jorge Emilio Núñez, crafting this into a book. Join me at https://drjorge.world or X (https://x.com/DrJorge_World ).

Clues

• Núñez, J.E. (2017). Sovereignty Conflicts (Ch. 6, 7).
• Núñez, J.E. (2020). Territorial Disputes (Ch. 1, 7).
• Núñez, J.E. (2023). Cosmopolitanism and State Sovereignty (Ch. 1, 6, 7).
• Núñez, J.E. (2025). Territorial Disputes in the Americas (Ch. 9).

NOTE:

New posts every Tuesday.

PREVIOUS POSTS:

1. Entangled Worlds, Shared Futures: A New Border Blueprint
2. Khemed’s Oil, Crimea’s Shadow: Splitting the Stakes
3. Sherlock’s Docks, Ireland’s Edge: Clues to Equal Ground
   1. 3.1. Bonus
4. Sherwood’s Green, Amazon’s Roots: Forests for All
5. Atlantis Rising, Antarctic Thaw: Deep Claims, Shared Wins
6. Narnia’s Ice, Cyprus Split: Thrones in Balance

Section 1 Recap: Six Tales of Borders and Balance

https://london1701.blogspot.com/2025/04/the-borders-we-share-weaving-threadssix.html

NEXT POSTS:

• Post #8: Laputa’s Wells, Saudi Sands: Oil Beyond One Flag (April 29, 2025)
• Post #9: Laputa’s Wells, Part II: The Entangled Price (May 6, 2025)
• Post #10: Oz’s Emeralds, Gulf Oil: Gems of the Deep (May 13, 2025)
• Post #11: Utopia’s Oil Dream, Nigeria’s Delta: Fairness Flows (May 20, 2025)
• Post #12: Ruritania’s Pride, Iraq’s Line: Dust Meets Dignity (May 27, 2025)

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Tuesday 22nd April 2025

Dr Jorge Emilio Núñez

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