Tension between China & the Phillipines

www.reuters.com...

Came across this article. Did a check and it isn't posted yet. Anyway, it appears that there is trouble building between China and the Phillipines over disputed territory in the South China Sea. I put this post in the General Conspiracies section instead of the WW3 board because I don't think this will lead to all out War; maybe a regional conflict at most. There are other players in this game of disputed territories: Vietnam, Malasia, and Brunei. The Phillipines is even trying to get the US involved as a negotiator while the dispute rages on.

As I said I don't think this situation will amount to anything more than a regional conflict but I still think it's a situation to keep an eye on as China flexes its muscle(s). We should also keep an eye on China/ Russia relations as they are strange bedfellows who may turn to each other in efforts to defeat a common enemy known as us.

reply to post by lostbook


Sigh :shk: Seems so screwed up, the big powerful countries can never let the little countries be.

What resources does China want from that area? Why dispute ownership if there is no resources there they want?

reply to post by MichiganSwampBuck


Have you heard about China's "nine dash line" where they literally claimed the whole of China sea that it looks like a sticking tongue?



There's supposed to be lots of oil underneath these group of islands and now China wants it all.

To put it bluntly, China does not comply with international law on territorial boundaries. The boundaries are set to 12 nautical miles off the nations coast and allows for 200 nautical miles for fishing except for when the fishing boundary is in conflict with or overlaps another nations fishing boundary.

China claims the South China Sea as theirs despite the fact that this claim violates several nations boundaries. Since China refuses to abide by international law in this regard, they need to be restrained to the 12 mile limit until they are willing to abide by international maritime law. Should they use aggression in the South China Sea to take possession of islands and areas not within their legal limit then a forced compliance may be required. This lack of willingness to abide by international law places the South China Seas shipping lanes in danger which China should understand will not be tolerated. China has already been warned in this regard by the US, Australia and India.

reply to post by MichiganSwampBuck


This area has been in dispute for years. There are multiple countries that lay claim to them. China, Vietnam, Philippines, Brunei, Taiwan, and Malaysia are all involved. Most of the Spratly Islands aren't even above water at high tide, and a number are only capable of supporting small facilities, such as VHF antennas, and small radar antennas.

There are roughly 750 islands in the chain, but they cover 17.7 billion tons of oil and gas, as well as rich fishing resources. In 1998 the islands accounted for 8% of the worlds catch. That doesn't include commercial shipping (almost 25% of all crude oil goes through the South China Sea).

reply to post by marhaba


I think Australia should come out and make a claim too.

The below outline of Australia suits me

Thanks for all the replies. I was too sleepy to do the digging last night.

So we have an area that is an important shipping lane, abundant fishery, and has lots of oil = resource rich.

When a country wants some territory, to find out why, just "follow the resources" (as in the statement "follow the money").

Well, the biggest country always wins, right?.. I wonder if China really is looking to claim Asia as its own.

If they did launch a massive occupation plan, either through coercing and threats of military action.. would any one really stand in the way?

China has a problem and they are trying to resolve it.

China is a superpower without a power cord. They have more people than any other country; they have technology and are getting more by the day. They have a powerful military. What they do not have is energy, at least not enough to fuel their growing needs. They need the oil under the South China Sea, desperately.

Their military is shackled by the lack of energy reserves and the fragility of the supply chains of this energy. China cannot reach the Middle East if the rest of the world doesn't want it to. Along their seacoast, they are hemmed in by Japan, Taiwan (a part of China now, but still highly Westernized and therefore suspect in a conflict) and South Korea. Even if they get past this, the island chains between Asia and Australia are a pretty serious blockade for any Chinese ships trying to get through should those island nations and their allies decide to make it so.

The Himalayas keep any land pipeline from connecting to the Middle East.

This is nothing but a grab for closer oil reserves.

On another note, this has ramifications in the Iranian conflicts now ongoing. China needs Iranian oil, and the only way they can get it is for either the world be at peace and at the same time leave Iran alone (which seems quite unlikely today) or for China to somehow manage to obtain a secure transportation system for Iranian oil. Myanmar is situated perfectly for this. They bridge a fairly level (if not domesticated) land route between the Indian Ocean and China. The problem is that Myanmar is seriously unstable right now, even too unstable for China to intervene. But should it become necessary... Myanmar will become a part of or a staunch ally to China.

TheRedneck

reply to post by TheRedneck


Hey Redneck,

Its not only about oil. Its also about every natural resource which is increasingly becoming scarce. Water, land, oil, etc etc.

The scary part is that they have a plan in place and their aggression is not sabre rattling by just some local area commander trying to show off.

The threat is out there. Its real. And its advancing very very stealthily. The US has woken up to it belatedly. The question is, is there time to stop its progress? I think not.