Full unclosure? As oil-and-gas exploration intensifies, so does the bickering

China is fighting for a chance to claim some islet and island by the 9-dashed lined in the South China sea.  Disputes that china has such claims brings in surrounding countries and are trying to claim it themselves as well as discourage China from getting them.  The Philippines and Vietnam do not like this idea because it is full of oil and other resources that would give China a more powerful edge in the Asian world.  But dispute about a old map and international law have been delaying the Chinese from obtaining what they really want.  I thought this was interesting because China has been such a huge topic in the world lately and if the Chinese gain control of oil they really will become a dominating powerhouse. 

Robert Ostler

http://www.economist.com/node/21551113