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Lockdown is Lifted in Wuhan; Professional Sports Consider Getting Back in the Game; Explanation of Some Controversies Making Waves in the South China Sea
Aired April 09, 2020 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CARL AZUZ, CNN 10 ANCHOR: Welcome everyone, I`m Carl Azuz for CNN 10. After more than two months, the lockdown has been lifted in the first
Chinese city to see corona virus cases. Is this something we can expect to happen in other places in the months ahead? Wuhan, China was where the
outbreak was first reported last December though there are indications it was spreading before that. The city of 11 million people was put on
lockdown on January 23rd, two and a half later on Wednesday Wuhan`s borders were reopened. People in good health could leave the city. Trains started
running. Flights resumed, though there are no direct routes to the Chinese capital Beijing. There are still some restrictions in place in Wuhan and
the corona virus threat isn`t over in China or elsewhere.
There are indications that some European countries are planning to follow China`s example in terms of when to lift their lockdowns and the timing of
that is tricky. It`s better for economies if restrictions are lifted but health officials say if that`s done too soon the virus could surge again
leading to more problems. The disease continues to spread and claim lives in the United States. Officials are hoping that after this week things
will start to get better with the number of deaths decreasing and the spread slowing down in some hard hit areas. But this doesn`t mean that
businesses and schools will reopen soon.
Companies are still laying off employees or suspending their hours and pay and a top U.S. health official says he`s optimistic that schools will be
open nationwide by the fall, though communities will have to be more proactive in identifying and isolating the virus. Before many schools
closed and shifted to online learning. Professional sporting events were cancelled across America. When might game clocks start ticking again?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TOM FOREMAN, CNN JOURNALIST: A computer helping call the balls and strikes to keep umpires at a distance. No consultations on the pitching mound.
Players not in crowded dugouts but spread out in the empty stands and every team, every game in Arizona. That`s how it may look if Major League
Baseball says play ball next month according to multiple reports. Baseball`s official stance remains unchanged.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We`re going (ph) to resume playing when it`s safe for our fans, our players and the public for us to resume playing.
FOREMAN: The plan under discussion would attempt to create a safe zone with teams operating in isolation for months amid rigorous virus testing at
their hotels, on buses, in stadiums, closed to all fans. Other pro sports are nibbling at resuming with similar plans to limit exposure but only
tentatively. Basketball commissioner Adam Silver.
ADAM SILVER, NBA COMMISSIONER: At least for the month of April, we won`t be in a position to make any decisions. And I - - I don`t think that
necessarily means on May 1st we will be.
FOREMAN: Hockey`s Stanley Cup playoffs should have started this week. Instead ideas are being floated for returning to the ice maybe this summer
in North Dakota. Those seem barely more than rumors. The league is saying little. And the biggest game around, football, the NFL`s draft is this
month with teams planning virtual parties to celebrate. In a conference call to sports officials days ago, the president said he hopes the league
can kickoff on time in September, but many state and local officials are questioning all this talk of sports coming back soon.
DR. ANTHONY FAUCI: That`s not something I anticipate happening in the next few months.
FOREMAN: With billions of dollars and thousands of jobs at stake, of course everybody would like to see sports up and running again. But for
now, the teams and the towns that host them seem to be saying they will let health officials make that call. Tom Foreman, CNN, Bethesda, Maryland.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AZUZ: 10 Second Trivia. What is the term for a part of the ocean that`s beyond a nation`s control? High seas, off-shore territory, contiguous zone
or limited enforcement zone. According to the United Nations Law of the Sea, the high seas are outside territorial claims.
Last week a Vietnamese fishing boat was sunk in the South China Sea. It was sailing near a group of islands claimed by both Vietnam and China and
the two countries blame each other for sinking the boat who`s crew was rescued by the Chinese Coast Guard. The South China Sea is an important
part of the ocean. Since 2014, China has come under international scrutiny for building artificial islands there. It sees this body of water as its
territory. Other nations in the region and the United States say China`s claims are illegal.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The islands and reefs of the South China Sea are variously claimed by six different governments. That`s right, six. And
sovereignty over these islands is significant because of something called the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea or UNCLOS. UNCLOS
states that every coastal nation has the rights within a 200 nautical mile exclusive economic zone off its coastal waters. Ownership of the islands,
therefore, dictates who has the rights to the resource rich South China Sea. Who owns the seas has always been a difficult concept. In the 18th
century, Dutch Legal Theorist Cornelis van Bynkershoek stated that a nation owned the amount of sea could defend from the land.
At the time, that was the distance of cannon fire around three nautical miles. The cannon shot rule is still used by several countries to this day
including Jordan and Singapore. In 1945, President Truman extended U.S. jurisdiction to the end of its continental shelf. The continuation of the
land mass underwater until it drops down to the ocean floor. Then the U.S. built the world`s first off shore oil platform out of sight of land in the
Gulf of Mexico in 1947, 10 and a half miles off the Louisiana coast. That started a race to claim oceanic resources far beyond the cannon shot
distance from the shoreline. This lead to a lot of countries clashing over their perceived rights. For example, the UK and Iceland had no less than
three disputes known as "Cod Wars" over the fish in what are now Icelandic waters.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We will feel ourselves abliged to several diplomatic nations.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To mediate these disputes, UNCLOS was drawn up and came into force in 1994. It carved up maritime territory into four main
sections, typically measured from the low water line on a nation`s shores. Within the territorial waters, a state can regulate use and has ownership
over any resources found within. Foreign states can sail through but they have to abide by the nation`s laws. Within the contiguous zone, a state
can continue to enforce laws in four specific areas, customs, taxation, immigration and pollution. Within the EEZ, the state has the sole rights
over natural resources but foreign states may sail through, lay underwater cables and even pass through for military reasons.
And on the continental shelf, a state has the rights to resources in the subsoil of the continental shelf but not the water column above if it is
beyond the EEZ. Although 168 parties have ratified UNCLOS, it has far from resolved maritime territory disputes. For example, France went up against
Canada outside the Gulf of Saint Lawrence over its overseas territory at Saint Pierre and Miquelon.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Their fight is with Canada - -
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Even sending in Navy frigate and seismic ship to test for oil in disputed waters before the two came to an agreement in 1992.
And then there`s the South China Sea. Based on it`s claim over the Spratly Islands, China states its EEZ covers pretty much the whole of the South
China Sea violating the EEZ`s of several countries. Despite the wording of UNCLOS, China believes it can control military activity in the EEZ too
leading to numerous clashes with the U.S. which regularly holds frequent navigation patrols in the South China Sea. Leading to the question, if one
country can ignore UNCLOS, what`s stopping the rest?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AZUZ: Pennsylvania is burying it`s graffiti highway once and for all. The three-quarter mile stretch of road has been closed since 1993 because the
coal that runs beneath it had been burning for decades. But after the road was covered with graffiti, it became an unofficial tourist attraction
despite being extremely dangerous. With crowds gathering there during the corona virus pandemic, the highways private owner decided to cover the
highway with dirt and the company doing that says it will probably be planted with trees and grass.
If covering it was a crime that will now be covered up. Officials have plenty of dirt on the vandals and while they`ve all hit road by now
thinking their "grafreeti". It`s still sad when art gets "buried and burned". It seems a low way for a highway to go. Before we go, shout out
to Lafayette High School in Lafayette, Louisiana. We`re grateful to have you watching. I`m Carl Azuz for CNN 10.
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