Offshore may refer to:

Finance and Law

Offshoring, active movement of companies to offshore centres

Offshore financial centre, jurisdictions which transact financial business with non-residents

Offshore investment, relates to the wider financial services industry in offshore centres

Offshore bank, relates to the banking industry in offshore centres

Offshore company

Offshore fund, collective investment in offshore centres

Offshore trust, trust arranged in offshore jurisdiction

Offshore host, host that allow nulled scripts or easily tricked by it

Technology

Offshore drilling, discovery and development of oil and gas resources which lie underwater through drilling a well

Offshore (hydrocarbons)

Offshore construction, relates to construction out to sea

Offshore powerboat racing, powerboat racing

Arts

''Offshore'' (novel), a 1979 British novel by Penelope Fitzgerald

"Offshore" (song), a 1996 song by British electronic dance music act Chicane

''Offshore'' (album), a 2006 album by Indiana-based post-rock band Early Day Miners

Other uses

Offshore balancing a concept used in analysis of international relations.

Offshore wind

See also

Tax haven

de:Offshore el:Offshore eo:Offshore fr:Offshore hr:Offshore it:Offshore ja:オフショア (曖昧さ回避) pt:Offshore (desambiguação) sv:Offshore

The South China Sea is a marginal sea that is part of the Pacific Ocean, encompassing an area from the Singapore and Malacca Straits to the Strait of Taiwan of around . The area's importance largely results from one-third of the world's shipping transiting through its waters, and that it is believed to hold huge oil and gas reserves beneath its seabed.

It is located

south of mainland China and the island of Taiwan,

west of the Philippines,

north west of Sabah (Malaysia), Sarawak (Malaysia) and Brunei,

north of Indonesia,

north east of the Malay peninsula (Malaysia) and Singapore, and

east of Vietnam.

The minute South China Sea Islands, collectively an archipelago, number in the hundreds. The sea and its mostly uninhabited islands are subject to competing claims of sovereignty by several countries. These claims are also reflected in the variety of names used for the islands and the sea.

Names

''South China Sea'' is the dominant term used in English for the sea, and the name in most European languages is equivalent, but it is sometimes called by different names in neighboring countries, often reflecting historical claims to hegemony over the sea.

The English name is a result of early European interest in the sea as a route from Europe and South Asia to the trading opportunities of China. In the sixteenth century Portuguese sailors called it the China Sea (''Mar da China''); later needs to differentiate it from nearby bodies of water led to calling it the South China Sea. The International Hydrographic Organization refers to the sea as "South China Sea (Nan Hai)".

In Southeast Asia it was once called the ''Champa Sea'' ''Sea of Cham'', after the maritime kingdom of Champa that flourished there before the sixteenth century. The majority of the sea came under Japanese naval control during World War II following the military acquisition of many surrounding South East Asian territories in 1941. Japan calls the sea ''Minami Shina Kai'' "South China Sea". This was written 南支那海 until 2004, when the Japanese Foreign Ministry and other departments switched the spelling 南シナ海, which has become the standard usage in Japan.

In China, it is called the "South Sea", 南海 ''Nánhǎi'', and in Vietnam the "East Sea", ''Biển Đông''. In the Philippines, Malaysia, and Indonesia it was long called the "South China Sea" (''Dagat Timog Tsina'' in Tagalog, ''Laut China Selatan'' in Malay), with the part within Philippine territorial waters often called the "Luzon Sea", ''Dagat Luzon'', by the Philippines. However, following an escalation of the Spratly Islands dispute in 2011, various Philippine government agencies started using the neologism "West Philippine Sea". A Pagasa spokesperson said that the sea to the east of the Philippines will continue to be called the Philippine Sea.

Geography

States and territories with borders on the sea (clockwise from north) include: the People's Republic of China (including Macau and Hong Kong), the Republic of China (Taiwan), the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia, Singapore, and Vietnam.

Major rivers that flow into the South China Sea include the Pearl, Min, Jiulong, Red, Mekong, Rajang, Pahang, Pampanga, and Pasig Rivers.

Extent

The International Hydrographic Organization defines the limits of the South China Sea as follows:

''On the South.'' The Eastern and Southern limits of Singapore and Malacca Straits [A line joining Tanjong Datok, the Southeast point of Johore () through Horsburgh Reef to Pulo Koko, the Northeastern extreme of Bintan Island (). The Northeastern coast of Sumatra] as far West as Tanjong Kedabu () down the East coast of Sumatra to Lucipara Point () thence to Tanjong Nanka, the Southwest extremity of Banka Island, through this island to Tanjong Berikat the Eastern point (), on to Tanjong Djemang () in Billiton, along the North coast of this island to Tanjong Boeroeng Mandi () and thence a line to Tanjong Sambar () the Southwest extreme of Borneo.

''On the East.'' From Tanjong Sambar through the West coast of Borneo to Tanjong Sampanmangio, the North point, thence a line to West points of Balabac and Secam Reefs, on to the West point of Bancalan Island and to Cape Buliluyan, the Southwest point of Palawan, through this island to Cabuli Point, the Northern point thereof, thence to the Northwest point of Busuanga and to Cape Calavite in the island of Mindoro, to the Northwest point of Lubang Island and to Point Fuego (14°08'N) in Luzon Island, through this island to Cape Engano, the Northeast point of Luzon, along a line joining this cape with the East point of Balintang Island (20°N) and to the East point of Y'Ami Island (21°05'N) thence to Garan Bi, the Southern point of Taiwan (Formosa), through this island to Santyo (25°N) its North Eastern Point.

''On the North.'' From Fuki Kaku the North point of Formosa to Kiushan Tao (Turnabout Island) on to the South point of Haitan Tao (25°25'N) and thence Westward on the parallel of 25°24' North to the coast of Fukien.

''On the West.'' The Mainland, the Southern limit of the Gulf of Thailand and the East coast of the Malay Peninsula.

Geology

The sea lies above a drowned continental shelf; during recent ice ages global sea level was hundreds of metres lower, and Borneo was part of the Asian mainland.

The South China Sea opened after around 45 million years ago when the Dangerous Grounds (Reed Tablemount) were rifted away from southern China. Extension culminated in seafloor spreading around 30 million years ago, a process that propagated to the SW resulting in the V-shaped basin we see today. Extension ceased around 17 million years ago. Arguments have continued about the role of tectonic extrusion in forming the basin. Paul Tapponnier and colleagues have argued that as India collides with Asia it pushes Indochina to the SE. The relative shear between Indochina and China caused the South China Sea to open. This view is disputed by geologists who do not consider Indochina to have moved far relative to mainland Asia. Recent marine geophysical studies by Peter Clift has shown that the Red River Fault was active and causing basin formation at least by 37 million years ago in the NW South China Sea, consistent with extrusion playing a part in the formation of the sea. Since opening the South China Sea has been the repository of large sediment volumes delivered by the Mekong River, Red River and Pearl River. Several of these deltas are rich in oil and gas deposits.

Islands and seamounts

The South China Sea contains over 250 small islands, atolls, cays, shoals, reefs, and sandbars, most of which have no indigenous people, many of which are naturally under water at high tide, and some of which are permanently submerged. The features are grouped into three archipelagos (listed by area size), Macclesfield Bank and Scarborough Shoal:

The Spratly Islands

The Paracel Islands

The Pratas Islands

The Macclesfield Bank

The Scarborough Shoal

The Spratly Islands spread over an 810 by 900 km area covering some 175 identified insular features, the largest being Taiping Island (Itu Aba) at just over 1.3 km long and with its highest elevation at 3.8 metres.

The largest singular feature in the area of the Spratly Islands is a 100 km wide seamount called Reed Tablemount, also known as Reed Bank, in the northeast of the group, separated from Palawan Island of the Philippines by the Palawan Trench. Now completely submerged, with a depth of 20 m, it was an island until it sank about 7,000 years ago due to the increasing sea level after the last ice age. With an area of 8,866 km², it is one of the largest submerged atoll structures of the world.

Resources

It is an extremely significant body of water in a geopolitical sense. It is the second most used sea lane in the world, while in terms of world annual merchant fleet tonnage, over 50% passes through the Strait of Malacca, the Sunda Strait, and the Lombok Strait. Over 1.6 million m³ (10 million barrels) of crude oil a day are shipped through the Strait of Malacca, where there are regular reports of piracy, but much less frequently than before the mid-20th century.

The region has proven oil reserves of around 1.2 km³ (7.7 billion barrels), with an estimate of 4.5 km³ (28 billion barrels) in total. Natural gas reserves are estimated to total around 7,500 km³ (266 trillion cubic feet).

According to studies made by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Philippines, this body of water holds one third of the entire world's marine biodiversity, thereby making it a very important area for the ecosystem.

Territorial claims

Several countries have made competing territorial claims over the South China Sea. Such disputes have been regarded as Asia's most potentially dangerous point of conflict. Both People's Republic of China (PRC) and the Republic of China (ROC) claim almost the entire body as their own, demarking their claims within what is known as the nine-dotted line, which claims overlap with virtually every other country in the region. Competing claims include:

Indonesia, China, and Taiwan over waters NE of the Natuna Islands

The Philippines, China, and Taiwan over the Malampaya and Camago gas fields.

The Philippines, China, and Taiwan over Scarborough Shoal.

Vietnam, China, and Taiwan over waters west of the Spratly Islands. Some or all of the islands themselves are also disputed between Vietnam, China, Taiwan, Brunei, Malaysia, and the Philippines.

The Paracel Islands are disputed between the PRC/ROC and Vietnam.

Malaysia, Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam over areas in the Gulf of Thailand.

Singapore and Malaysia along the Strait of Johore and the Strait of Singapore.

China and Vietnam have both been vigorous in prosecuting their claims. The People's Republic of China and South Vietnam each controlled part of the Paracel Islands before 1974. A brief conflict in 1974 resulted in 18 soldiers being killed, and China has controlled the whole of Paracel since then. The Spratly Islands have been the site of a naval clash, in which over seventy Vietnamese sailors were killed just south of Chigua Reef in March 1988. Disputing claimants regularly report clashes between naval vessels.

ASEAN in general, and Malaysia in particular, has been keen to ensure that the territorial disputes within the South China Sea do not escalate into armed conflict. As such, Joint Development Authorities have been set up in areas of overlapping claims to jointly develop the area and dividing the profits equally without settling the issue of sovereignty over the area. This is true, particularly in the Gulf of Thailand. Generally, China has preferred to resolve competing claims bi-laterally, while ASEAN countries prefer multi-lateral talks, believing that they are disadvantaged in bi-lateral negotiations with the much larger China and that because many countries claim the same territory only multilateral talks could effectively resolve the competing claims.

The overlapping claims over Pedra Branca or Pulau Batu Putih including neighboring Middle Rocks by both Singapore and Malaysia were settled in 2008 by the International Court of Justice, awarding Pedra Branca/Pulau Batu Puteh to Singapore and Middle Rocks to Malaysia.

In July 2010, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called for the Peoples Republic of China to resolve the territorial dispute. China responded by demanding the US keep out of the issue. This came at a time when both countries have been engaging in naval exercises in a show of force to the opposing side, which increased tensions in the region. The US Military released a statement on August 18 where it opposed the use of force to resolve the dispute, and accused China of assertive behaviour.

South China Sea in astronomy

South China Sea is associated with the star Xi Serpentis in asterism ''Left Wall'', Heavenly Market enclosure (see Chinese constellation).

See also

East China Sea

South China Sea shipwrecks

Territorial disputes in South China Sea

References

Further reading

Clive Schofield et al., From Disputed Waters to Seas of Opportunity: Overcoming Barriers to Maritime Cooperation in East and Southeast Asia (July 2011)

C.Michael Hogan (2011) ''South China Sea'' Topic ed. P.Saundry. Ed.-in-chief C.J.Cleveland. Encyclopedia of Earth. National Council for Science and the Environment. Washington DC

UNEP (2007). ''Review of the Legal Aspects of Environmental Management in the South China Sea and Gulf of Thailand''. UNEP/GEF/SCS Technical Publication No. 9.

Keyan Zou (2005). ''Law of the sea in East Asia: issues and prospects''. London/New York: Rutledge Curzon. ISBN 0-415-35074-3

External links

Rising Tensions in the South China Sea, June 2011 Q&A with Ian J. Storey

News collections on The South China Sea on China Digital Times

The South China Sea on Google Earth - featured on Google Earth's Official Blog

South China Sea Virtual Library - online resource for students, scholars and policy-makers interested in South China Sea regional development, environment, and security issues.

Energy Information Administration - The South China Sea

Tropical Research and Conservation Centre - The South China Sea

Weekly Piracy Report

Reversing Environmental Degradation Trends in the South China Sea and Gulf of Thailand

UNEP/GEF South China Sea Knowledge Documents

Category:Territorial disputes of the Philippines Category:Territorial disputes of the People's Republic of China Category:Territorial disputes of Malaysia Category:Territorial disputes of Vietnam Category:Territorial disputes of the Republic of China Category:Marginal seas of the Pacific Ocean Category:Disputed territories in Southeast Asia

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name	Matthew Shaffer
birth name	Matthew Joseph Shaffer
birth date	May 04, 1978
birth place	Colorado
birthname	Matthew Joseph Shaffer }}

Matthew Joseph Shaffer (born May 4, 1978) is an American musical theatre, television, and film actor, director, executive producer and choreographer. He was born in Florence, Colorado, USA.

Biography

Matthew began his career in Southern California. He attended the prestigious Orange County High School of the Arts. He was accepted as a performing apprentice to the world-renowned concert dance company Gus Giordano Jazz Dance Chicago in 1996. He became a principal in the company the following year. After three years touring the United States and Europe he left the company. Matthew has performed in shows with Andy Williams, Debby Boone, Robert Goulet, Rosie O'Donnell, Jenifer Lewis, and Jason Alexander. He worked in the ensemble of the Radio City Christmas Spectacular at Radio City Music Hall in New York City for five seasons. Matthew was involved in the final stunt of the feature film Jackass Number Two, with Johnny Knoxville. Matthew had comedic roles in two off-beat and independent short films: Feet Afire in 2005, and in 2006 the movie Queerspiracy, which is an official selection at the 2007 Breckenridge Film Festival. In November 2006, Matthew originated the role of Bergdwarf Goodman, the narrative gnome in the Los Angeles Opera production of Hansel and Gretel at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. October 2007, he completed his first 35 mm film project as Choreographer on the set of Harrison Bergeron, screenplay by Chandler Tuttle, based on the Kurt Vonnegut short story. In November 2007, Matthew originated the lead role "Sim" in the revival of Ray Bradbury's Frost and Fire directed by Zina Bethune, at the Alex Theatre, in Los Angeles, CA.

Roles

Theatre

''Maggie Miguel ...a corporate American employee'' ...Directed and Choreographed... One Woman Show starring Maggie Miguel ...ACME Comedy Theatre Los Angeles, CA March 2009

''Share Inc. Boomtown Benefit''...Ensemble...Santa Monica Civic Auditorium...Santa Monica, California 2008

''Frost and Fire''…originated lead role “Sim”…Alex Theatre Los Angeles, CA 2007

''Hansel and Gretel''…originated the role “Gnome”…Dorothy Chandler Pavilion…Los Angeles, CA 2006

''Stand Up Salad''…Comic…Friars Club of Beverly Hills 2006

''Radio City Christmas Spectacular''…Ensemble….Radio City Music Hall…2000-2005 (Five Seasons)

''Tess’ Last Night''…The Stalker…Greenwich House Theatre…NYC…2003

''16th Annual BC/EFA Easter Bonnet Competition''…Ensemble…New Amsterdam Theatre…2002

''On A Clear Day You Can See Forever'' (Workshop)…Ensemble…New York City Center…2001

''Synthesis Dance Project''…Ensemble…NYC…2000

''TheMantis Project''...Trio of Three performer...Symphony Space, NYC...2000

''Pat and Debby Boone Show''… Ensemble…Branson, MO…1999

''Andy Williams Show''…Ensemble…Branson, MO…1998

''Gus Giordano Jazz Dance Chicago''…Principal Dancer…Chicago, IL…1997-1999 (Three Seasons)

''Chicago Symphony Orchestra''…Ensemble Dancer…Chicago, IL…1997

''Hercules Spectacular''…Ensemble…Chicago Theatre…1997

Film/Television

''Kickin It'' Disney XD...Actor (uncredited)...2011

''Billy Glimmer'' (Ben Stiller Project)...Choreographer...2010

''The Real Housewives Parody Movie'' Executive producer / Writer / Director / Actor...2010

''Children's Hospital'' Choreographer....2010

''Harrison Bergeron'' 35 mm film…Choreographer…2007

''Twinkle Time'' (Television pilot)…Choreographer / Actor…2007

''Michael Poppins'' (Television pilot)...Tambourine Man...2007

''Queerspiracy''…Justin Davies…2006

''Cold Case''…Kit Kat Boy…2006

''Jackass Number Two''…Dancer…2006

''Earth To America''…Performer…2005

''Feet Afire''…Chad La Rosa…2005

''Mona Lisa Smile''…Dancer…2002

''All My Children''...Featured...2001

References

External links

Category:American musical theatre actors Category:American film actors Category:1978 births Category:Living people