Nestled between the Philippines and Vietnam in the azure clear waters of the South China Sea are the Spratly Islands, an archipelago of more than 30,000 islands and reefs. Laid claim to by China, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam the Spratlys which are spread over 400,000 square kilometers of sea occupy less than five square kilometers of land area.
While ancient Vietnamese maps were the first to record the Spratlys, the archipelago has also been controlled by French and Japanese forces who claimed to rule the area after winning wars in the region. More recently, China, Vietnam, Malaysia and the Philippines have all encroached on territorial waters leading to naval disputes. ASEAN has consequently signed the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea with China to ease tensions.
Growing political disputes are mostly triggered due to the Spratlys’ massive untapped economic value. The region, which is one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world, is rich in oil and gas and is also one of the world’s most productive areas for commercial fishing.
The Geology and Mineral Resources Ministry of the People’s Republic of China has estimated that the Spratly area holds oil and natural gas reserves of 17.7 billion tons, as compared to the 13 billion tons held by Kuwait, placing it as the fourth largest reserve bed in the world.
In 1988, the South China Sea accounted for 8 percent of the world’s total catch. The number has certainly risen in the last few years. China has predicted that the South China Sea holds combined fishing and oil and gas resources worth one trillion dollars. Additionally, tanker traffic through the South China Sea is estimated to be over three times greater than that through the Suez Canal and five times more than through the Panama Canal. Twenty-five percent of the world’s crude oil passes through the South China Sea.
these f****** chinese are trying to get control over the whole south asia.they have pblms with almost all the nations bordering them.they hve pbls with japan on okinawa(ryukyu) islands,withindians on aksai chin and arunachal pradesh,with myanmar on the konming region,pbls with communist vietnam on parcel islands,&spratly islands (rich in oil and gas),pbls with mongolia on its borders,with russian on the inland river islands,with tajikistan on Gorny Badakhshan area.they are also trying to control river flow to tajik ,kazks,kyrgyztans 30 more rivers,along indian side they are trying to control over the bhrahmaputra and trying to divert to north china,same thing they are doing in S.E asia.INDIA ,BANGLADESH AND ASEAN will be affected by this.they are claiming on the spratly island with philipines,malaysia ,brunei,vietnametc.this islands are actually very far from china and near to vietnam and philipines and other asean countries.they are trying to get the whole south china sea without looking the soverign interests of other bordering countries.this can be seen from thepublishing of a map containig the natuna gas field of indonesia.how is it possible.this is injusticable.and china forcibly integrated tibet and xinjiang.this is injusticable.and these *********** are saying foolish reasons to justice that and publishing yellow newspapers to there peoples claiming as their lands.
common southasians and ASEAN contries make anato model organisation to prevent chinese aggression yo soth and southeast asia.
@Sarath, yes it does seem that China is becoming rather tense over its border claims and relations with its neighbors. Often the dispute mechanism process has also been negotiated in Beijings favor by dividing claimants into individually, rather than multilaterally holding discussions. That is a mistake in terms of island disputes. However, your more colorful rhetoric aside, I am inclined to agree about the increase in arguments China is embarking upon.
Thanks
Chris