China Escalating Tensions In the South China Sea

Boats And Brinksmanship Up Close In The South China Sea -- CNN

Vietnam Coast Guard 8003, South China Sea (CNN) -- To be at the front line of a "cold war" is, these days, a rare thing -- particularly when that front line is a remote chain of islands in the South China Sea, hundreds of kilometers from the nearest landfall.

The waters around the Paracel Islands, a largely unpopulated archipelago administered by China but claimed by Vietnam, have become the "battleground" in an increasingly volatile territorial dispute between the two communist neighbors.

Taking advantage of a rare opportunity to witness the spat up close, CNN traveled to the area with the Vietnamese Coast Guard.

Tensions between Beijing and Hanoi ratcheted up last month, when a Chinese state-owned company deployed an oil rig in waters off the Paracels. It was set up unilaterally, without any discussion between the two sides, much to the annoyance of the Vietnamese who view it as a Chinese incursion into their sovereign waters.

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More News On Tensions Rising In the South China Sea

China vows firm stance on South China Sea -- CCTV
China May Build ‘Artificial Island’ in South China Sea -- Zachary Keck, The Diplomat
China plans artificial island in disputed Spratlys chain in South China Sea -- South China Morning Post
Photos confirm China reclamation; experts hit reef degradation in Spratly -- Inquirer.net
China to build artificial island in disputed South China Sea -- Indian Express
China plans to build military base on Kagitingan Reef – report -- GMA
China tells PH off on reef reclamation, says ‘it’s none of your business’ -- Inquirer.net
Vietnam Says China Still Ramming Boats, Airs Sinking Video -- Bloomberg
Vietnam Urges 'Practical US Actions' in S. China Sea -- VOA
South China Sea set for period of protracted confrontation -- Want China Times
Historian: Reefs’ reclamation China’s way to assert 9-dash-line claim -- Nikko Dizon, Philippine Daily Inquirer
China's Self-Made Disaster in the South China Sea -- Richard Javad Heydarian, National Interest
Deciphering China’s ‘Nine Dash Line’ and the law of the sea -- John Kemp, Gulf Times/Reuters