South China Sea Rife for Kabooms




This week, Philippine and U.S. forces started military exercises in the South China Sea amid growing tension between China and the Philippines over territorial rights to the Scarborough Shoal, 120 miles west of Luzon and within the 200-nautical-mile Exclusive Economic Zone.

The Philippines claims the Scarborough Shoal (also called Panatag shoal) with evidence dating back two centuries.

Because they are commies, the Chinese claim the entire South China Sea including Scarborough Shoal where Chinese fisherman and coral gatherers have been working. The Filipinos are understandably puckered about the poaching.

Meanwhile, there's this:

Vietnam and the US will hold five days of "non-combatant" naval exchange activities next week in the port city of Danang, the US Embassy said, amid rising tensions in the South China Sea.

The exercises "underscore the closer ties between the US and Vietnam", according a statement from the United States, which is increasingly seen as a counterweight to Beijing's growing naval assertiveness in the region.

The US 7th Fleet Flagship USS Blue Ridge, the guided missile destroyer USS Chafee and rescue and salvage ship USNS Safeguard will be in Danang port from April 23, according to the US Embassy statement released late Monday.

Readers my recall that the U.S. has already sent a U.S. Marine detachment to Darwin, Australia, while also stationing a few naval ships in Singapore.

In conclusion, what we now have is positioning on a game board. The question remains, who moves first?