In the midst of the global Covid-19 crisis, the tensions in the South China Sea cannot be due to only strategic reasons to keep the sea lanes free for peaceful navigation by all (No easing of South China Sea tensions, April 22).

There is more than meets the eye if we look deeper.

China's intentions in the South China Sea - which is crowded with many players and their navies looking at one another across their bows - cannot merely be for protecting territorial rights.

It has to do with the fossil oil and natural gas below the seabed.

US oil prices this week dropped below zero for the first time, and producers are paying buyers to take the excess oil gushing from oil fields amid a supply glut and inadequate storage capacity.

Now is an opportune time for all to face the possibility that fossil oil can become worthless because of declining demand and that the thirst for it might not be worth all the tension in the South China Sea.

Mankind must press on to render fossil oil obsolete by replacing it with clean energy.

This will reduce tension and greed, and also benefit the environment for all living things to survive and thrive.

Tan Kok Tim