Adam Minter, Columnist

The Cost to Doing Nothing in the South China Sea

Political tensions are preventing action to save the region's fishing stocks.

November 16, 2015 at 10:00 PM UTC

Adam Minter is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering the business of sports. He is the author, most recently, of “Secondhand: Travels in the New Global Garage Sale."

Political tensions are allowing fish stocks to be eviscerated.
Photographer: Hoang Dinh Nam/AFP/Getty Images

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President Obama's visit to the Philippines this week will train a spotlight on the fiercely contested South China Sea. Both he and his hosts will likely call on China and other claimants to maintain the status quo in the region until their various differences can be resolved. Yet while that may be the best one can hope for geopolitically, it could be a disaster environmentally.

QuickTake Territorial Disputes