Why They Think China is Winning the South China Sea Dispute

(Paula Gasol)

China is big. China is rich. China is powerful. There is no way China will lose anything to anyone – not to the US, not even to the US plus five other nations, and certainly, UN what?

The hush-hush and murmurs over the disputed islands in the South China Sea is getting louder and louder, even more so now that the US has decided to be the megaphone for such powerless countries as Vietnam and the Philippines. Naturally, China calls foul – like they were direly aggravated by the US’ call to stop bullying on the said small countries.

Now some analysts see China as winning the battle over the oil-rich disputed territories. As to what the reasons are, the investment news did not clearly say anyhow. It just merely assumed that China is winning – hands down.

And they might be right – or making it happen over at the stocks department. See, China’s state-run petrol driller, China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC) Ltd is doing so well in the stock market as of late. The confidence it has been gaining lately must be because of their aggressive drilling methods (read: mega military backup) in the disputed islands. Naturally, what could a smaller PetroVietnam do against a mega powerful force? And the Philippines? You can even almost forget about them being part of the island disputes. All they do is whine and pray that the US backs them up. And as for the US – that’s a totally different story on these oceans.

For obvious reasons and not, China might definitely be winning the game. They have the most advanced technology on most of the islands in the said territory. And they are not backing down at all – they got everything figured out: keep the disputes between each other and never let the UN mingle with it. They can surely, absolutely handle the smaller nations claiming the area but they would have some problem contesting with the international law on water territories should the UN decide to intervene. Why isn’t the UN saying anything anyway?

Previous Article: Why the US Can’t Let China Have the South China Sea