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HalfMooner
Dingaling
Philippines
15831 Posts |
 Posted - 11/05/2010 : 00:13:12
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The South China Sea is a vast oceanic region reaching south from China for roughly 1,500 kilometers to the shores of Malaysia and Indonesia. This Sea also stretches eastward from Vietnam for about 1,000 kilometers to the shores of the Philippines. The Sea is dotted with many small islands and reefs. The South China Sea is an important regional fishery for many nations, and it is the second busiest sea lane on earth.
And the South China Sea has huge untapped oil and gas resources under its seabed.
Conflicting national claims to the South China Sea
Both Chinas (the PRC and Taiwan) claim almost all of the South China Sea as China's sovereign lake, excluding only narrow but undefined "buffer" areas near the surrounding nations. Vietnam also claims the entire South China Sea. These claims could be roughly compared to France or the Netherlands hypothetically claiming the North Sea, the Norwegian Sea, and the Irish Sea as their national territory.
The Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia all assert claims to islands and reefs, claims that conflict with those of both Chinas and those of Vietnam. The PRC, Taiwan, Vietnam, and the Philippines all have military personnel occupying disputed islands and reefs in the South China Sea, even including some that are underwater at high tide.
Islands occupied by competing nations, plus oil/gas resources
Another chart, showing national occupation forces in part of the South China Sea
Filipino civilians planting the Bandilla on a tiny rock of the Scarborough Shoal
Vietnamese troops occupying Spratly Island
You'd think that this situation was a potential flash point for future conflict, right?
You'd be wrong. For years, there have been almost continuous military clashes between these claimants. There is already an ongoing, low-intensity war in the South China Sea.
In 1974, the PRC attacked Vietnamese troops and expelled them from the Paracel Islands. In 1988, mainland China and Vietnam fought a naval battle over the possession of Johnson Reef in the Spratly Islands. Philippine troops were repelled in an invasion attempt of PRC-held Itu Aba island in the Spratlys. The Philippines were also defeated, bloodlessly, in an invasion attempt of a Taiwan-occupied island (sorry, lost that link). And the multi-sided conflict continues, with signs of heating up further.
Aside from those all-inclusive claims of the two Chinese regimes and Vietnam, the claims of the other nations are generally for islands and seabeds nearer their main coasts than to any other nation. In my opinion, the blanket claims of China (both the PRC and Taiwanese claims are identical) and that of Vietnam to the whole of the South China Sea are absurdly over-reaching. The situation screams out for international diplomacy and mediation. The big dog in this fight, the PRC, thus far refuses to even discuss compromise.
Let us hope, and demand, that every diplomatic attempt be made to avert serious warfare over the resources of the South China Sea.
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“Biology is just physics that has begun to smell bad.” —HalfMooner
Here's a link to Moonscape News, and one to its Archive. |
Edited by - HalfMooner on 11/05/2010 01:32:24
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Ebone4rock
SFN Regular
USA
894 Posts |
Posted - 11/05/2010 : 05:20:22 [Permalink]
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Facinating Halfmooner.
This fighting over islands has been going on for a millenia or more. The only thing that changes is the technology. |
Haole with heart, thats all I'll ever be. I'm not a part of the North Shore society. Stuck on the shoulder, that's where you'll find me. Digging for scraps with the kooks in line. -Offspring |
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HalfMooner
Dingaling
Philippines
15831 Posts |
Posted - 11/06/2010 : 05:46:49 [Permalink]
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Originally posted by Ebone4rock
Facinating Halfmooner.
This fighting over islands has been going on for a millenia or more. The only thing that changes is the technology.
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Thanks, Ebone4rock. This was a subject I'd been slightly aware of, but when I looked into the matter, it seemed a much bigger deal than I'd previously thought.
What has changed over the centuries is the use of petrochemicals. Fishermen or traders might have put into these small islands in the past for shelter from storms, for fresh water, or for repairs, but they were insignificant to the surrounding nations. Now, control of the last of the world's untapped petroleum and natural gas reserves are becoming a potential cause belli from the South China Sea clear to the Arctic Ocean.
The best thing, of course, would to leave the damned oil where it is. But who worries about global warming and oil spills, huh?
So the exploration, exploitation and fighting, will probably increase. My hope is that at least a commonsense principle such as allotting sub-sea fields to the nearest nations would prevail. But I doubt that will happen.
So what happens if/when China's new aircraft carrier and an accompanying task force loaded with PLA marines steams into the South China Sea to enforce China's claims and route the Malaysians, Filipinos, Bruneians, Viets, and Taiwanese occupying the islands?
It could very well be war, that's what: a chaotic, multi-sided clusterf**k. |
“Biology is just physics that has begun to smell bad.” —HalfMooner
Here's a link to Moonscape News, and one to its Archive. |
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HalfMooner
Dingaling
Philippines
15831 Posts |
Posted - 11/08/2010 : 20:34:20 [Permalink]
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Now, this, as the conflict over the South China Sea heats up further:Vietnam offers navy base to foil China
Foreign navies are to be given access to Vietnam's Cam Ranh Bay, a naval stronghold that was a key Cold War outpost that is now emerging as a vital base to counter Chinese dominance of the South China Sea.
By Malcolm Moore in Shanghai and Praveen Swami, Diplomatic Editor
Published: 12:09AM GMT 08 Nov 2010
Nyugen Tan Dung, the Vietnamese prime minister, said Cam Ranh Bay, 180 miles north west of Ho Chi Minh city, would stand ready to service ships and submarines "from all countries".
Russia is to help rebuild the port as part of an £1.3 billion defence deal signed earlier this year.
The move is one of a series of interlocking regional arrangements that are being put in place to counter China's growing might.
In October, Vietnam signed an agreement giving Indian naval ships base facilities at its ports. India, in turn, agreed to help Hanoi expand its naval logistics capabilities, and to train its army in jungle warfare.
Russia is selling Vietnam a raft of state of the art military hardware, including six submarines and 20 Sukhoi 30 fighters.
The port was used as a naval base for the French forces in Indochina, by the Japanese navy in 1942, by the US Navy during the Vietnam war, and by the Russians during the Cold War.
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“Biology is just physics that has begun to smell bad.” —HalfMooner
Here's a link to Moonscape News, and one to its Archive. |
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HalfMooner
Dingaling
Philippines
15831 Posts |
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A Sea of Conflict
