Commentaries And Analysis On The Growing South China Sea Territorial Dispute

Gordon G. Chang, Daily Beast: History’s Next Great War Zone: The South China Sea

The United States pushes back against Chinese claims over a vast tract of water of enormous importance. It’s a classic win-or-lose confrontation.

At the moment, the war is just one of words. On Friday, the Chinese Foreign Ministry called a U.S. Navy reconnaissance flight over the hotly contested South China Sea “very irresponsible and dangerous and detrimental to regional peace and stability.” The admonition came two days after the Chinese navy sent eight warnings to an American P-8A Poseidon patrol aircraft, telling it not to approach Fiery Cross Reef in the Spratly Island chain.

Beijing and Washington in recent months have been making many declarations about—and trading accusations and warnings over—these 3.5 million square kilometers of water that are roughly bounded by Hong Kong, Taiwan, the Philippines, Indonesia, and Vietnam, where annual commerce totals $5.3 trillion. About half the world’s oil-tanker shipments transit its waters. Six of the world’s 10 busiest ports dot its coasts.

WNU Editor: The military strategy/implications on China's South China Sea policy has just gotten more clearer .... China to extend military reach, build lighthouses in disputed waters (Reuters) .... even while the Chinese military is trying to downplay it .... China's Army Plays Down South China Sea Island-Building (AP).

Commentaries And Analysis On The Growing South China Sea Territorial Dispute

The South China Sea’s Ticking Time Bomb -- Mark Thompson, Time
Beijing’s Formidable Strategy in the South China Sea -- Chunjuan Nancy Wei, The Diplomat
China's Master Plan in the South China Sea -- Chen Dingding, National Interest
South China Sea: The One-Move Chess Player -- Amitai Etzioni, The Diplomat
The Pentagon's South China Sea Overkill -- Greg Austin, The Diplomat
Provoking Beijing in the South China Sea Will Only Backfire on Washington -- Feng Zhang, Foreign Policy
How America Should Respond to China's Moves in the South China Sea -- J. Randy Forbes, National Interest
Why China Should Fear America's Great South China Sea Challenge -- Euan Graham, National Interest
The real reason tensions are rising in the South China Sea -- VOX