With us. Hello im Adrian Finighan this is counting the cost on aljazeera a look at the world of business and economics this week war games in the South China Sea washington sends an Aircraft Carrier is as beijing use its economic might to expand its territorial ambitions. Big oil gets ready for a post covert world with billions in nigeria gets ready to export gas to europe. But no money to send home families struggle to pay for food and rent as global witnesses to the pandemic. In the himalayas in disputed territory china has been exerting its presence to deadly effect 20 indian soldiers were killed in hand to hand combat the standoff between the 2 Nuclear Neighbors is just the latest move by an aggressive beijing to use its growing economic might in territorial disputes from taiwan to its control over hong kong but its president xi is reach across the South China Sea that we want to look at closely this week to do that its defense spending is inching higher and higher from 143000000000. 00 in 2010 to 261000000000. 00 in 2019 aljazeera alex go topless takes a closer look now at chinas naval ambitions. This is a photo of a shipyard in china it shows night watch ships a Missile Defense system an Aircraft Carrier and a whole craft all being built similar taney sleek shanghai and this is just one of several shipyards churning out warships. All the ships are part of chinas new navy we started off as a Coastal Defense force protecting its shores and is rapidly becoming a Massive Group of integrated capable of reaching further and further out as china becomes a Global Military power but china insists hes not interested in using all this power to dominate the region youre going to a recent government report the navys ability then to defend itself and its interests among never trying to see it yemeni expansion or speed. So what is chinas rapid naval expansion mean for its neighbors. Heres what china sees when it looks outside its borders its one of the biggest military vessels japan has commissioned a menacing reminder up Vladimir Putins military ambitions chinese subs are a potential target the in the Pacific Region is becoming increasingly volatile as china india the u. S. And others jockey for control to stay on top china has dredged islands in the South China Sea for new military bases expanded its marine corps from 20000 troops 2100000 introduce a whole host of new military technologies to its Naval Hospital as chinas economy has grown it is used its wealth to secure strategic locations for any future use by its navy money has been poured into ports across the indian ocean in order to secure access rights and its not just money its also about resources chinas large coastguard fleets supplemented by maritime militias posing as fishermen but answering directly to the military they have harassed vietnamese and filipino. Fishing fleets in an effort to control resource rich regions like the South China Sea and some regional leaders have already accepted chinas Economic Dominance when the sea is a fish. Them an event team. Chinas neighbor forces now operate on a 2 track path on the one hand its militias and coast guard a dominating vital regions intimidating the vessels of other countries in order to establish control what weve seen in the last few years is when theres been disputes theres been a constant reaching for diplomatic channels from actually going to china. And other countries supplying the brakes on the other the size and power of the navy itself is stopping chinas neighbors from pushing back against this low level harassment china doesnt want to engage in a military strategy it uses military power to enhance you simply lost the region but its all part of the same package even though the sea surrounding china are increasingly under its control its navy hasnt slowed down instead it has extended its reach with chinas navy wanting joint exercises further afield with pakistan iran south africa and russia all this has made chinas neighbors increasingly fearful of the giant in their midst in response to life fire drills near taiwan the u. S. Recently rushed through a large home sale the taiwanese government and after china showed off its anti ship and hypersonic missiles and japan started beefing up its own Missile Defenses and navy as chinas military expands its influence the potential for conflict is growing its neighbors are unable at the moment to go up against this rapidly expanding Regional Power their concern for the future quietly arming and forging their own alliances in an effort to protect themselves against the rise of a regional superpower. Joining us now via skype from. Singapore is col and co colin is a Research Fellow at the institute of defense and strategic studies at the Rajaratnam School of International Studies great to have you on account of the cost there doesnt seem to be a nation in or around the South China Sea that beijing doesnt have a territorial dispute with what lies behind chinas claims. I mean basically it is a whole range of interests concerning china in the South China Sea for example we are likely more aware of what we call territorial and jurisdiction a dispute in a star chinas the release to a hold of thinks. For example energy. But its also important to highlight that you know there is a strategic dimension of trainers constant interest in the South China Sea and their release though chinas evolving Maritime Strategy that increasingly looks outwards trying to expend strategic depth and parry me against external aggression so this is something that is not that well. In the future but its increasingly important the dynamics between chinese and american will force us in the South China Sea in recent times the us has 3 Aircraft Carrier groups in the region the chinese dont have the firepower to match the us yet truly you new us has a 100. 00 plus head start how long bow before china is on a par militarily and at what cost to its economy. Yes this is a very good question i was that i said this question in 2 ways one is to highlight 1st of all the there is a difference fundamentally between the u. S. Navy and the chinese navy for the u. S. Navy is by nature and through history a global navy it has all the widespread interest d and therefore. Carrier capably are spread out across the region the chinese navy at the moment the chinese navy has primarily its focus on its immediate waters in the western pacific where by means that you know is able d to bring its firepower to bear mostly on this region so needed to see me its important to highlight that you know you are right to point out that the chinese navy still lags behind the u. S. Navy in terms of carrier borne aviation capability that is certainly one area to look at we are probably looking at in the next one decade or so as the navy right now is trying to get with the u. S. Navy by trying to build more eco carriers try to build more carrier jet trying to train more carrier pilots trying to create a full fledged battle group by building a host of other stuff a combatant as well as underway with that human bessel the u. S. Has bases and alliances around the world which enables it to extend its reach what does china have the pelton Road Initiative is it damaging any goodwill around the world this is an important question because right now even as were speaking the barrow initiate the solver its a controversial project given what has been developed so far for example if anything one curricle what happened with sri lanka. Do you. See and hear some 99 year lease. Well china so theyre actually in or is are not of very good publicity for china but i mean using their example at the barrel initiate the if is chinas. Strategy to try to create you know if placed under the wool you know its own internationalist they should be a key great power a u. N. Security Council Member and the thing is true the better not initiate the especially true the 21st century. Initiate the china envies agers beauty a string of course infrastructure the region especially those that will concentrate the around its always asia and the indian ocean these in peacetime were allowed up here in the the project force but you what you call it the of these forces these will be held under question are we right in thinking that china appears at the moment to be much more confident aggressive if you like from what its doing in hong kong and taiwan but deadly dispute between india and china on their border and what kind of economic damage is that likely to do to china theres already been pushback from from india. And theres a possibility of more sanctions from the us. I wouldnt really call that confidence i mean if anything what we have seen in recent times being the Border Closure of india or what we saw d d in a whole string of cause the activities in the South China Sea and i think this reflects largely a growing insecurity and paranoia of the commune these are party in power actually the thing is in all incomes of great pressure. If you look at what happened in china in the in the recent times look back at the trade war when the u. S. And look at what happened to hong kong what happened in taiwan with the election that doesnt touch in china stable and you look at you know the pandemic a brick itself in china i think there are actually a gruelling domestic pressures with the trainer which thereby of gliders the community has the to likely try to distract public attention and rally the people around some nationalistic agenda so we talk about economic damage i think right now china is facing some fundamental structural issues that arises from the pandemic outbreak and its impact on the economy we are going to see likely in the future a shift in the Global Supply chain over time you know take place so soon but no is going to take place and how as country start to recalibrate and you know how do we do china for example what happened right now with the u. S. Sanctions. You know a host of other issues like we while away these going to like the as the as a bit chinas economic woes and you might potentially from china to try to prop the u. S. The worst form of settlement in the future comment its really good to talk to many thanks indeed for being with us from counting the cost. Oil producing nations are adjusting to the new normal post pandemic long in Development Nigeria has opened the taps on a 2800000000. 00 gas pipeline which it hopes will deliver on jobs and reduce its dependence upon oil aljazeera as ahmed address reports from nigeria. After 15 years of delay nigerias Trans National gas pipeline is finally and the way. The pipeline with the capacity to deliver 2200000000 cubic feet of gas will feed power plants and reactivate goldman industries in central and northern nigeria. Officials say the pipeline will draw from a little pipes in the south deepening the use of cash an indication that the country may finally be shifting focus tonight ill gas after more than 60 years of dependence on oil. And never will. Cause the country and also particularly in areas where does such opportunities. And by extension also to create opportunity for employment where you have more resources in when you develop more continue to for growth of your local economies you also have bigger market because as we go forward. A transition of diminishing across the globe. The new 600 kilometer pipeline will also link up with the existing network of pipes to deliver gas to the countrys neighbors and eventually to europe through the 4400 kilometer transonic gas pipeline. For more than a decade nigeria which produces on average 2000000. 00 barrels of crude oil a day so it is because of Oil Market Volatility it after more than half a century of production analysts believe the country has not maximized opportunities for a product whose global price and demand is now diminishing. Where i think we might have done better our rating is in the cost of production i think over the years. Not only did we sort of grow production or you know reorganize production from joint venture to p. S. A. Production but we allowed the cost of production to go out of control issues relating to security and all sorts of things so basically the net benefit per barrel of oil exports that was actually reduced so regardless of how much you produce if your cost of production is not optimal its not Good BusinessIndustrial Production in africa because economy has fallen drastically mainly due to partial to us the country currently produces less than 5000. 00 megawatts of electricity despite having the walled 9 largest natural gas result of 203. 00 trillion cubic feet the government holds. One channel access gas kind of being played by all companies to generate electricity. An estimated 800000000 cubic feet of gas is flooded every day from 174. 00 points across the country the Petroleum Ministry said this costs nigeria more than a 1000000000. 00 i do source that could be used to produce 3000 megawatts of electricity. The countrys newfound interest in gas could father propel the use of compressed natural gas in cause as global interest and patrol reduces thats an initiative. Which is to increase. Mission across the country as a project that will soon take off and the whole idea is to see how mobility. Would see an engine and this is the expansion of opportunities and not only that its also the button on. Africas Biggest Oil Producer still imports premium motor spirits or petrol with huge subsidies but despite winning appetite for oil analysts say demand for nigerias light sweet crude will remain the crude oil that we have is never going to go to waste. Whether we export it the the local demand regardless of the fact that the crude oil demand is on the decline globally the local demand for crude products would always still be reasonably substantial coupled with the excess that were going to have sex and. So i think there is a place for. I think that. Is reasonable it can grow. But i think its important to make sure that we operate more efficiently although threats to Oil Pipelines and crude oil theft of reduced over the years any resumption of attacks on the infrastructure could derail nigerias dream of boosting its domestic gas utilization and exports. Aljazeera. No cars on the road no planes in the sky of no trains on the tracks from beijing to l. A. Clear skies gave the world room to breathe was it a vision of the World Without oil big oil doesnt believe that well get back to past ovals of Oil Consumption and many produces a remaking themselves for a world uses a lot less oil joining us now from london via skype is charlie chronic charlie is a senior climate advise a greenpeace u. K. Jolly good to have you with us is this not a transformative moment for the oil industry or are we just seeing Oil Companies preparing themselves for a new reality a new all price low oil price environment. I think its an Inflection Point this this moment has been a Long Time Coming and both analysts industry professionals and obviously environmentalists have highlighted the fact that if were going to address the issues and challenges of Climate Change oil and gas will have to be a much much smaller part and ultimately play no part in the Energy Future post 2050 i think what this moment has shown us is that that that that transition and that transformation could be coming much much sooner than anybody in the industry expected so when b. P. s chief executive talks about becoming a net 0 company by 2050 what does he mean is just going to keep more of the oil in the ground is it going to move into into Greener Technology but still be b p. I guess youd have to ask him that for sure but i mean whats in whats absolutely implicit in their target is that they said they are going to have 0 emissions for the oil and gas that they produce by 2050 so that means either theres going to be virtually no or the gas produced and sold by 2050 by b. P. Or theyre expecting their customers the end users to somehow either capture and sequester those emissions or to offset them somehow and that is the big big uncertainty in this are we talking about a 0 carbon world in 2050 are we talking about a world with an awful lot of carbon bookkeeping and accounting trying to juggle it so b. P. Is said what they intend to do but what they cant say is what their customers are going to do whether we like it or not whether the and whether its good for the environment or not the multitrillion Dollar Oil Industry is here to stay for the next few decades at least at least seeing enough of a transition to wind power solar power a governments spending more in those areas pushing more stimulus into those areas in other doing well enough. Governments arent anywhere near well enough if you look at the recent stimulus whether its come from the European Central bank or the bank of england here most of the the coded response payments have gone to low carb high Carbon Industries with virtually no conditionality attached and governments frankly are are not stepping up whatever they say whats interesting though is that the markets are beginning to realize that the future possibility is much much weaker the decision by dominion to abandon the mid atlantic gas pipeline in United States recent announcement by the European Investment bank that l n g isnt going to be a part of the Energy Future because it can be out competed by renewables what that shows is that the transition is actually had both what the fossil fuel industry and governments are already expecting. Oil hasnt been the desired boon for countries like nigeria nor is it likely to be as long as prices remain as low as they are. You think about things like the environmental damage of the niger delta. The whats been the cost of foot from nigeria of trying to get on to the oil boom. Its i mean it has been huge in both financial terms because the money that was extracted with that oil never seems to have been repatriated to nigeria and certainly not made it down to those communities that have been most impacted by it but and those same challenges are going to be faced by countries all around the world you know guiana is is looking at an oil boom right now thats been thats been fueled by exxon discoveries there will that money particularly in a low price environment ever end up with the poorest people in the poorest country in latin america its unlikely but even if you look at a country like the United States the impacts of the petrochemical industry in the mississippi delta for example have been very uneven in terms of the way the benefits have been distributed both to the companies that have done well out of it to the to the financiers who finance that but definitely not to the communities that live around the refineries in the pipelines really good starter charlie many thanks indeed for being with us on account of a cost thank you very much. Now the World Bank Expects global written sista plunged 20 percent to 445000000000 dollars this year and thats some slump considering the 2008 financial crisis or decline of just 5 percent millions of african families who depend on money sent home by relatives working in other countries are struggling to pay the rent and buy food. Reports now from kenya. Us monday. From somalia has been living in the kenyan capital nairobi for the past 17 years. Employment the father of 9 children has always depended on money sent by friends and relatives to feed his family and pay other expenses. He says he hasnt received any money for the past 3 months. On a lot of different meaning we have some relatives. Who are already in the u. S. And canada. U. K. So they used it to send out something. The month his situation is similar for many other families with breadwinners walk in other parts of africa. Julia of the a mother of 2 is visiting a Money Transfer office for the 1st time in 3 months. My husband is a trader and say its a done and he was forced to close his business hes been unable to send us any money since march weve been forced to live off our meager savings before the outbreak of the koran of violence bungholes like this one will be full of customers eagerly waiting to collect funds sent by their relatives abroad and now theyre few and far between lockdown measures adopted didnt many countries have led to job losses for migrants and consequently a reduction in remittances. Funds sent home by migrants from subside enough to tenfold from 4800000000 in 2000 to 48000000000 in 2018. But the world bank predicts a 23 percent fall this year in International Remittances to africa because of the covered 1000. 00 pandemic that will have implications for the economy to spin countries most of the middle Income Countries depend on remittances so if we cant have remittances being transferred to these countries its becoming increasingly challenging and this will certainly impact the development in countries such as somalia where there are no reliable Banking Services airport closures and Flight Cancellations have made to remittances have been more difficult. Workers that these Money Transfer company which operates in at least 40 countries in africa are calling on the Global Financial institutions and governments to intervene on the issue the continued flow of remittances. It will be connected. And thats our show for this week if youd like to comment on anything we have seen you can get in touch with us tweet me im a fan again on twitter use the hash tag a j c t c when you do or you could drop us a line counting the cost of aljazeera doc net is our email address. As always theres plenty more here online at aljazeera dot com slash c t c that takes you straight to our page and there youll find individual reports links even entire episodes feel to catch up. But thats it for this edition of counting the cost im adrian fenty going to the whole table here in doha thanks for being with us the news of aljazeera is next. The u. S. Is always of in fact the people the world people Pay Attention to whats going on here and i do see it as very good at bringing the news to the world. The ultranationalist marks connected with one of the worlds worst humanitarian crises we dealt as any migrant joining with the military to impose a deadly political agenda we have devoted our nation what has happened to their opinion thats one of the biggest stains on the country as a whole. This is not religion this is a politics. An unholy alliance on aljazeera. Its going to get worse and worse and worse a new warning from the World Health Organisation on the Global Pandemic as many countries see record numbers of new corona virus infections. Player watching aljazeera live from doha with me fully back also coming up. Violent protests in the democratic republic of congo against the appointment of a new Election Commission chief