China

China starts 'combat ready' patrols in disputed South China Sea

China has begun combat-ready patrols in the waters around a disputed group of islands in the South China Sea, the Defence Ministry said on Thursday, the latest escalation in tension over the potentially resource-rich area.

Asked about what China would do in response to Vietnamese air patrols over the Spratly Islands, the ministry's spokesman, Geng Yansheng, said China would "resolutely oppose any militarily provocative behavior."

"In order to protect national sovereignty and our security and development interests, the Chinese military has already set up a normal, combat-ready patrol system in seas under our control," he said.

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"The Chinese military's resolve and will to defend territorial sovereignty and protect our maritime rights and interests is firm and unshakeable," Mr. Geng added, according to a transcript on the ministry's website of comments at a briefing.

He did not elaborate. The ministry does not allow foreign reporters to attend its monthly briefings.

China is involved in long-running disputes with Vietnam and the Philippines about ownership of the South China Sea and its myriad, mostly uninhabited, islands and atolls. Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei also have claims.

Last week, China said it "vehemently opposed" a Vietnamese law asserting sovereignty over the Paracel and Spratly Islands, which straddle key shipping lanes and are thought to contain rich energy reserves.

That row came days after an easing in a months-long standoff between China and the Philippines, but shows the persistent cycle of territorial frictions triggered by what some see as China's growing assertiveness in the area.

The South China Sea is potentially the biggest flashpoint for confrontation in Asia, and tensions have risen since the United States adopted a policy last year to reinforce its influence in the region.

At stake is control over what are believed to be significant reserves of oil and gas.

CNOOC, China's offshore oil specialist, said on its website last weekend that it would invite foreign partners to explore jointly and develop nine blocks in the western part of the South China Sea this year.

On Tuesday, Vietnam said CNOOC's plan was "illegal" and the blocks encroached on Vietnamese territorial waters.

At a regular briefing on Wednesday, China's Foreign Ministry spokesman, Hong Lei, insisted that the tenders were in accord with Chinese and international law and urged Vietnam not to escalate the dispute.

Potential brushfires seem to popping up all over the place these days.

Yep. We have to worry about this, the issues between Syria and Turkey, Israel and Egypt (and Syria), the Iranian crisis and why Russia wont help with that, the corrupt regime in Afghanistan, the conflict between China and Tiawan....and the tensions between North and S Korea as well as between India and Pakistan.

And we're deep in an economic war with the Chinese and have extremely limited options. And whats worse is...China, Russia and Iran all know this.

I think its time we seriously consider just who our real friends are and stick by them....and let the rest of the world go to h*ll.

Let the arab league step in and deal with their own.
Russia is no friend nor is China.

And I honestly dont give a rip about Vietnam. How many of our troops died there? How many of our friends were massacred in that war? If they refuse to adopt a democratically elected govt, let em rot.