South China Sea Political Cartoon

South China Sea Cartoon

Works Cited

Paresh. "Asian Observer." Asian Observer. N.p., 11 July 2011. Web. 29 Sept. 2015.

Response:

This political cartoon addresses how Southeast Asian countries are all in the South China Sea and they're all fishing and it seems that China is taking all the fish from the sea and from the other countries that are using the same water source.  The cartoonists side on this topic is that he seems that he favors Vietnam or Philippines in this situation over China. The cartoonist also seems to favor the ASEAN, but it seems that they have no power in the area. The South China Sea, in general, has been disputed upon and there is even a whole Code of Conduct given by the ASEAN for this specific piece of water. Other people from this district might have the feeling that China is being oppressive almost with the Sea and have command over something that isn't legally theirs. I did find this cartoon persuasive because it puts China in an almost ugly light and it really looks like that in this cartoon. The facial expressions from the characters, countries, are also persuasive with the fact that they clearly express their possible intentions in the Sea. I think the cartoonist could have added more effect to his persuasiveness by adding angry faces from other big countries from the US or maybe Great Britain. This political cartoon clearly describes the situation in the South China Sea.