Spratly Islands, a real potential HOT spot

I had an old friend warn me years ago about the potential flash point that these islands in the South China Sea could be. We've let our guard down while screwing around in the middle east, and now we are at a tough spot to reverse the damage. China is in control of a major navigation route utilized in round the world shipping,...

....new video with a good synopsis

Why China is building islands in the South China Sea
China claims they aren't military bases, but its actions say otherwise.

http://www.vox.com/videos/2017/2/17/14642818/china-south-china-sea-us-islands

 

and screwing around in Asia and screwing around in Latin America. Probably if America stopped screwing around they would be much better off and the World would be a lot more peaceful.

Poida

 

Plenty of countries in the area have established bases on the various islands, all we hear about is China.

 

Name one that has managed to keep it base intact,...and the extent of that 'military base' ?

 

Blame whoever called it the South China Sea.

 

I wouldn't call the Spratly Islands breaking news, it's been going on for years. Of course in the US it probably is, but there again they're the same people who voted the village idiot to be president of the free world.....

 

As my wife just told me, more people will die in shootings in the US this weekend than because of the Spratly's in the next 25 years...

 

...and then replaced him with President Trump.

 

I like Chinese food anyway.
Poida

 

So do I.

 

Prognostication over that long a time is decidedly iffy as propositions go.

A year, two, maybe with modest assurance.

Best to deal with the past: like last weekend in Chicago and the after the Johnson South Reef Skirmish in the late 80's (between Vietnam and China, IIRC).

 

It will be interesting to see what happens when one, or a few, of these smaller nations come asking for help from big brother USA to help them with pollution problems arising from development of nature resources on those islands boarding THEIR coast, not China's.

And it will be interesting to see what happens when there are punitive shipping restrictions imposed by an intolerant China.

And it will be interesting to see what a few of these small nations think about their military security when there is a BIG China just off their coast.

I'm old enough to realize that Japan once had its own designs for SE Asia,.....gathering up as many for raw materials and energy resources as it could conquer

 

Well the new president in the Philippines doesn't seem to think it necessary to be pro-US, Trump has just cancelled TPP which was Vietnam's meal ticket and Japan is still a largely defenceless nation. Seems no one's really too concerned about anyone else, n'est pas?

 

Yes there is no nation other than the US that could oppose them. And the Chinese realize this and will emphasize that point of their power over the area verses the US Navy (even though it is international waters, BTW)

And I think the Philippines will come to regret their current belligerency towards the USA. They should have instead invited us back into Subic Bay as a deterrent to this SCS situation.

 

U.S. carrier group patrols in tense South China Sea
A United States aircraft carrier strike group has begun patrols in the South China Sea amid growing tension with China over control of the disputed waterway and concerns it could become a flashpoint under the new U.S. administration.

Forget Duterte. The Philippines loves the United States.
In the Philippines, the US enjoys its highest approval ratings anywhere in the world