South China Sea and China (2011-2017)

[Ray]

Russia has also been warned to keep off by China!

They are serious about the issue, but one wonders how far will they press on!

[carl]

They are serious about the issue, but one wonders how far will they press on!

They do appear to have definitely made their minds up about this don't they?

[Ray]

They do appear to have definitely made their minds up about this don't they?

China appears is at its tethers end and her patience is running out.

Though they have claimed the whole South China Sea, I read somewhere that they control 13% physically.

There is no doubt that China requires the natural resources that is there in the South China Sea to engine her growth. The South China Sea is also required by China to establish her strategic presence in the area as also to have unfettered access into the Pacific.

But then so do others require it.

Philippines has a Treaty with the US.

There is no doubt that the situation is ripe for confrontation, but will the Chinese precipitate any crisis?

Maybe and maybe not.

Would China like to lose goodwill of its neighbours? Even if it is not concerned about the goodwill aspect given that China might find the South China Sea more important for China than goodwill, there is the danger that it will spook her other friends beyond the Pacific rim. That may not go down well.

One wonders what China will do.

US will surely be watching the issue closely.

[carl]

US will surely be watching the issue closely.

Maybe it is more along the lines of others watching what the US will do.

[Ray]

Maybe it is more along the lines of others watching what the US will do.

Who knows maybe you are right.

When US sneezes, the world catches a cold!

[Dayuhan]

Again, it's worth noting that this is not the first time this has happened or a new step up in how far the Chinese are willing to push.

http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/...ghts-indonesia

The August 3 edition of the Mainichi Daily News, a Japanese newspaper, reported on a June 23 confrontation over a fleet of 10 Chinese fishing vessels operating without permission in Indonesia's EEZ. A stand-off over the Indonesian navy's seizure of a Chinese fishing boat almost got out of control when a Chinese "fishery management vessel" – which was actually a repurposed heavy gunboat – threatened to fire on the Indonesian navy patrol boat. According to the article, the fishery management vessel pointed its large-caliber machine gun at the carbon-hulled Indonesian craft, at which point the outgunned patrol boat released the errant Chinese trawler. The article says that a similar episode occurred in May, with the same large Chinese warship having likewise successfully threatened an Indonesian naval patrol that was detaining an illegal Chinese fishing boat.

[carl]

Again, it's worth noting that this is not the first time this has happened or a new step up in how far the Chinese are willing to push.

That is not at all reassuring.