children's t.v. show sesame street has a new kid on the block, she is orange head julia and she is the first autistic character on this long running program. it is all to draw attention to autism. ♪ but let's not kid ourselves. these moves send a contemplated message to china with regional power and territorial ambitions of its own on the high sees. there is quote

navigation. the chinese are building artificial islands on reefs in the south china sea. a key choke point in southeast asia. they're being built on a chain known as the spratley islands. i'll show you better later on. 500 miles away from the chinese coast line. according to international law jurisdiction over territorial waters extend only the 12 naught tall miles from its shores. countries do have a right to claim resources like oil, gas, or fisheries as much as 350 miles off it's shores. this is the area that the philippines claim and the area claimed by vietnam. but this is the area that is claimed by china. marked here with the broken red lines and it extends much farther than the 350 miles. the u.s. fears that the china navy may use their island bases to disrupt global trade.

they put the amount of bilateral trade passing through the south china sea as $5.3 trillion a year. one fifth of that involves direct trade with the united states. once more, allies in the area philippines and malaysia have their own claims on those same spratley islands. an challenge could quickly draw the usa into the fray. that's why the danger over the trouble ed waters continue to grow. for more mary snow has the sto story. >> on most satellite photos like this, the johnson south reef about the size of a football field showed up as just a submerged reef in the south china sea, not even an island. but this series of photos revealed that since 2013 china has dredged up millions of tons of rock and stand from the sea floor to create a brand new island.

the speculation is that the island will supported a runway long enough for chinese military aircraft to take off and land on. >> this could be a real game change center the sense that it would allow china to project power to the china sea in a way that might threaten vietnam, malaysia and even the united states navy. >> they've been creating artificial islands. these satellite photos show, china has been engaged in a major reclamation project. since august of 2014 china has been building an even larger 9,850-foot long manmade island on fiery cross reef. according to a report, the new island at fiery cross would be capable of supporting a runway and a harbor t.v. enough to dock warships.

a clear challenge to claims of other nations in the south china sees. covering 160 square miles the spratley islands are a group of hundreds of remote islands, reeves and sand bars claimed by the philippines, vietnam and china. vietnam and the philippines have their own tiny outposts in the spratley islands. some more no more than rusted out tankers that have run aground. the artificial islands that china is building in the spratley islands appears to forcing others to relinquishing their claims and possession. why the interest in these reaves? whatever country plants their flag on these reefs could control valuable resources. it may contain 11 billion barrels of barrel a

oil and natural gas and with 10 million barrels of oil moving through the south china sea each day. >> anything that china does on those islands starts to threaten the united states perception of freedom of navigation. then it becomes a real issue between those two countries. then you get an overlap between the territorial disputes between the countries, the region, and the bigger global dispute about who will be the world's policeman. >> for now china seems intent on turning a deaf ear on the potential risk of confrontation with the u.s. and shows no signs of leaving it's newest island. >> how can we be sure that china is building these islands in the name of peace? i'll put that to a former

>> these people have decided that today they will be arrested. >> i know that i'm being surveilled. >> people are not getting the care that they need. >> this is a crime against humanity. >> hands up... >> don't shoot. >> hands up... >> don't shoot. >> what do we want? >> justice. >> when do we want it? >> now. >> explosions going on... we're not quite sure - >> is that an i.e.d.? >> "faultlines". al jazeera america's award-winning investigative series. monday, 10:00 eastern. on al jazeera america.

>> chinese officials say that the country's island building project in the south china sea is for peaceful purposes and it's neighbors will benefit from it. that's according to a former diplomat who is now a senior

fellow at the china institute of international studies a think tank affiliated with china's foreign affairs. he said that the u.s. should not interfere with china affairs. welcome. if china's reclamation project is in everybody's interest, why are others not supporting china's claims there? >> because the truth is they occupy some of the islands owned by china. so clearly they do not support any moves taken by china on the islands in the south china sea. for china these islands belong to china. so china activity on the islands are legitimate.

but of course to the contrary to the people in the philippines and vietnam, they have the opposite view. >> we're showing our viewers pictures of fiery cross reef right now. according to the british intelligence group me say that the runway there that we're looking at should be able to support all chinese military aircraft, the port facility should be able to support chinese surface combatant ships. tell me what your view is of what this development is. it looks military as opposed to civilian. >> yes, first of all. including the runaway and the port, mainly for civilian purposes. the support the fishing , seven and rescue, and at the same time they have the purposes of the complex situation in the south

china sea china should limit defense capability there so that if sovereignty claims over the islands . >> the united states is saying that the islands are in international waters, and the u.s. is going to exercise freedom of navigation whenever they like. the chief of naval said that he doesn't see how anything that the u.s. is going to be doing there as provocative in any way. how does china see what america is doing in the area? >> my view--my view is that the united states is using this so-called freedom of navigation just as an excuse to get involved in the disputes in south china sea to try to interfere in the affairs of the south china sea.

here is why. the united states is not a party to the disputes in the south china sea. and of course it has some interest in the freedom of navigation there. china has the biggest user of the islands in the south china sea, and more shipped over there in south china sea more than other countries. however, the freedom of navigation has not been--never been an issue in the south china sea. there is not an single incident that people can find harm to the freedom of navigation. they have the policy of the asia pacific. beginning in 2010 the united

states use the south china seas as an entry point to get involved i in the affairs of southeast asia. the it uses this issue to interview in the affairs of south china sea. the so-called freedom of navigation operation if it takes place will be provocative to china. >> let's talk about the spratley islands. they're 500 miles from china's clothesline by 100 miles to hundred miles have vietnam. this is a breach of code of conduct signed by all the claimants. and the region is one of the most productive areas for commercial fishing and one of

the busiest shipping lanes in the world. obviously who controls this is in a good position. it's one of the most desirable places in the sea to control. what is the justification of china making the claim? >> you know, the geographical distance does not determine the sovereignty of this island. and china has claims and sovereignty over the islands long over other countries laid claims to this islands. actually china enjoyed jurisdiction over the islands, and the china sea waters for centuries. in the early 1970s when there were reports of the discovery of oil and gas, then these countries including the philippines and vietnam, malaysia, began to claim the island at their own.

actually, vietnam, the philippines, all these countri countries, they do not have any on just to china's sovereignty and claims over the islands before the 1970s. the official documents of vietnam recognize china's sovereignty . and the treaties between the united states , and did not include the islands of south china sea as the territory. >> well look, let me ask you this way. china's view is that the united states has been provocative and has this pivot to asia and should butt out of chinese affairs. on the other hand, america's allies in the region, the philippines and vietnam, they don't want to get into a battle about this, i mean literally a military confrontation with china because the u.s. will be involved either way.

you make an eloquent argument as to why the spratley islands belong to china, there is some disagreement to this. how do they avoid military confrontation over this? >> there are two ways. produce a peaceful talent to the south china seas. there are two approaches. one is over the dispute of sovereignty. leave that to the ports of concern for bilateral diplomatic negotiations and talks. secondly, the peace and stability, let china and other countries in the southeast asia work together. actually the two sides. i mean, china and other nations

has been working on this. they have the declaration and parties in the south china sea. now they're talking about the code of conduct for the south china sea. so they're working to make sure that all these countries will follow a peaceful settlement of the south china sea. but the united states, japan or other countries beyond the region, other parties. they should not interview with the dispute over the sovereignty. of course we have interests in the peace and stability in south china sea as china does. those countries beyond and outside of the region should not take any moves that may complicate the situation. >> always a pleasure to have you on the show. thank you for joining us. a former chinese diplomat and

senior fellow at the china institute for studies. see why a lot of people in the tiny island nation are worried >> governments secretly paying ransoms. >> we were told never to disclose that they actually paid. >> are they saving lives or putting more at risk? only is it plausible, we would like to help you do it." so we ended up raising $30 million in a week to do this project, and it just (makes noise) went off with a launch. we had no trouble getting very high-end, if you will, partners to make a low-end device. and this was,

for me, the difference between inexpensive and cheap. in fact, that has properties that laptops don't have? for example, is it a laptop that kids can use in the sun? by the way, rotate it, it became a tablet- that was long before tablets were... >> rugged and sturdy. >> drop it, it could- it- it was waterproof, you could drop it from about three or four meters. i mean, this thing- it went through all sorts of drop tests. >> you could charge it on its own with the crank. >> you could crank it, you could charge - in other words, there were many and perhaps

>> and i'm not gonna leak (unintel phrase) i'm gonna leak i'm gonna say, "mister head of state, i will do it for" >> for this money. >> whatever. $185- >> competitors sprung up. >> there were people who said, "i can do this" >> absolutely, and they would under-bid us and they'd do it. >> so to- to you that's a success. >> oh god, that's a success. so people knew that this was a mission, not a market. >> you had- a long relationship

with steve jobs. you had known him since 1979. and at some point you had actually- shown him one of these laptops, these exo laptops, and you wanted him to sort of evaluate some of it. he ended up sending you an email- in may of 2007 where- you had given him this sample to look at, and he writes back to you, he says, "nicholas, we've known each other a long time. too long for me to do anything other than tell you what i think. the software is some of the worst i've ever seen. please don't be too mad at me." >> first of all, he was right. okay, so he really was right. i knew steve so well in the '80s, particularly the early '80s, but- maybe even the late '70s, and i hadn't seen very much of him. but when we announced the laptop, he showed some interest in it, and we exchanged some

back and forth that- this particular case that spurred the letter, he said, "when you're next out here, let's spend a few hours together. i'd love to- to see it." so i went to apple, and we spent about three hours, just the two of us in a small room. and so he took it off to play with it over the weekend, and that was the result. but i remember the meeting for a different reason, 'cause he had in his pocket- he was fondling his...and the iphone had been mentioned, but nobody had seen it. so he pulls it out, and he says, "i wanna show you my life's work." so suddenly it made my laptop look incidental. my laptop was in production, and so on. and it was on a thursday. and i said, "steve, you remember i'm on the motorola board. can i tell my colleagues what i've seen?"

he said, "well, look, people know this exists. yes, you can. but again, don't tell the press, but of course you can, yeah, 'cause we're having our announcement." turns out the motorola board meeting was the following monday. and i described what i'd saw, i said, "you know, this is- this is pretty important sort of thing here. and it's- again, it's got lots of stuff going on." they said, "nicholas, we're making 250 million phones. he's not gonna make a million in the first year." and literally at the next- or one after next board meeting, i said, "you see? hasn't gotten up to whatever the number was, 500,000." and- "you see?" >>if you want to know what else the future of technology holds and what you should be betting on, stay with us negroponte tells us that after the break.

>> when i met daisy, it was the best day of my life. when my past caught up with me and made us all pay the price. >> the social worker said, "i'm gonna have to take the baby". they took my family. i don't know how i'm gonna do it but... i need another lawyer. you're gonna have to kill me to take my child.

>> these people have decided that today they will be arrested. >> i know that i'm being surveilled. >> people are not getting the care that they need. >> this is a crime against humanity. >> hands up... >> don't shoot. >> hands up... >> don't shoot. >> what do we want? >> justice. >> when do we want it? >> now. >> explosions going on... we're not quite sure - >> is that an i.e.d.?

>> "faultlines". al jazeera america's award-winning investigative series. monday, 10:00 eastern. on al jazeera america. >> i've been asked to keep my voice down cause we are so close to the isil position >> who is in charge, and are they going to be held to accout? >> but know we're following the research team into the fire >> they're learning how to practice democracy... >> ...just seen tear gas being thrown... >> ...glad sombody care about us man... >> several human workers were kidnapped... >> this is what's left of the hospital >> is a crime that's under reported... >> what do you think... >> we're making history right now... >> al jazeera america i'm ali velshi and this is talk to al jazeera. my guest this week is the man behind one laptop per child, nicholas negroponte. >> the one thing i can't get people to answer when i'm amongst the smartest of the

mid-technology, is how all of these leaps forward address a basic intractable problem globally, and that is income inequality, that is the lack of good jobs. because everything we invent makes us more efficient. how do we make up for the fact that we are inventing ways of putting people out of work? >> the discussion actually isn't absent. let me call it nascent, because the jobs that are being eliminated now are the so-called knowledge workers that we thought were the ones that were immune, and the people who worked with their hands, they're gonna be put out of business. the number of jobs that are being created, on the other hand, and the other ways to have living, is also going up. now, are they going up the right speeds, the same rates, in the right places, and so on and so forth? i believe whatever the answer is, however you wanna

look at the future and division of wealth, which is absolutely terrible, the solutions are gonna have to include education. there's no question. i think the in the solution is to create an intellectual base that is so high, that there really is- a much higher platform for people to find jobs, to find fulfillment. and in fact the word job itself may not be the aspiration. what- people may not be looking for a job with a capitol j in the- in the same way. and when people even think of uber, and i happen to- use uber a lot- what the drivers say is, "you know, i'm- i'm kinda my own boss, and i do it when i want to. and- and i don't have to tell anybody, and- and- you know, it was my second job, i

was doing something else, and then i liked it so much it kinda became my primary job." and it you know, there- i'm not trying to advocate for uber, but there's a different way to look at employment that may emerge. >> just so that i can make good decision and possibly investments, or career choices, what's next? what- what's the thing that we- guys like me are not thinking about. >> oh that's easy. if you have a kid or a grandchild, biotech is the new digital. there's just no question. there's just, i think a whole frontier there. >> nicholas, always a pleasure to talk to you. thank you so much for your time. >> pleasure's mine. >> every saturday night. >> i lived that character. >> go one on one with america's movers and shakers. >> we will be able to see change. >> gripping... inspiring... entertaining. "talk to al jazeera". saturday, 6:00 eastern. only on al jazeera america.

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