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And what if the Russian and Chinese ships say no? Sink them? BTW, sovereignty is limited to 12 nm not 200 nm.

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The Russians are laying the groundwork to do this through the Northern Sea Route as the ice permanently melts away. It will be interesting to see how the worlds' shipping companies respond.

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Suggest taking a hard look at "ice permanently melting away". History shows it's happened before, and was anything but "permanent". Might happen...again...or not. Just sayin'...

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A viable Northern Sea Route significantly reduces the time to ship from East Asia to Western Europe. The point wasn't really to talk about climate change, but rather that the Russians are taking advantage of new sea lanes that haven't existed in a long time. The Chinese are right alongside them. We won't be able to do much to challenge excessive Russian claims in the area because we don't have ice breakers.

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I would argue that, since the 200nm EEZ limit addresses and includes ocean bottom assets, communication cables are included in that treaty. Ultimately, all national claims are upheld only by power. Sink them? Not my first choice, but stranger things have happened.

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