[00:01.97]South of Hong Kong lies the South China Sea,
[00:06.04]studded with more than 200 islands and reefs.
[00:10.15]Potential reserves of fish, oil and gas make each one strategic,
[00:17.50]and the whole region has become a political hot spot as territorial disputes simmer between its many neighbouring countries.
[00:30.17]The waters themselves are low in nutrients and would be poor in life if it wasn't for the other resource that's here in abundance, sunlight.