Vietnam kicked off a week long naval exchange Monday with the U.S. Navy amid percolating tensions in the South China Sea with China. Vietnam, China, the Philippines and other nations have competing claims to islands in the South China Sea, which are rich in oil and gas deposits. The problem is that all of the nations in the area need the mineral riches that the area has to offer. Because of this, tensions have flared near a shoal north of the disputed Spratly Islands where two Chinese maritime surveillance ships blocked a Philippine warship from arresting Chinese fishermen. Chinese and Philippine vessels continue to face off at the shoal with each waiting for the other to pull out.
China is pretty much on the outs with everybody else in the South China Sea because they all need the natural resources that the area has to offer also. They don’t mind bullying a smaller nation or anybody else if they feel like it will get them their way. Many of the nations in the area are taking steps to beef up their military equipment and manpower in order to deal with the growing Chinese threat.
Tensions between Vietnam and China hit a low point last summer after Hanoi accused Beijing of interfering with its maritime oil exploration activities. The Chinese have denied the charges but I suspect that they are true. The Chinese have named the South China Sea as one of its core interests. This declaration is their sneaky way of sayting that they would fight to get the resources that this area offers. If they do the world will have a serious problem.
This is just one of the present crisis situations that the world has to deal with at this time. The question is what can be done to diffuse the situation before it gets supercritical. None of these countries will back off and personally I think that the Chinese are in the wrong in this situation but they don’t care whether they are wrong or not they want the resources. Time will tell how this situation ends up. www.militaryringexpress.com
