Vietnam Backs Down in South China Sea

This could be called "The Risk of drilling in the South China Sea" because, as the BBC reports today, the leased gas drilling by a company working for Vietnam, has fallen to threats from China who has leased the gas rights to one of its own companies, with the cute name of Brightoil, run by two seniors in the Communist Party.

The Spanish company Repsol announced it discovered gas in the area, which should come as no surprise to anyone.  The Spratly Islands have been in contention for a long time because there is oil and gas there, and fishing too.  The Chinese want it, but so do a host of other countries.  When the Philippines brought action with the UN over it, it won, but China actied like a child with its hands over its ears, going La, La, La, La to drown out the buzz of losing.  The UN said they shouldn't be building those new islands and they interfered with the commerce of the Philippines.  That is not something China wanted to hear.  Vietnam might have an equal case, but might end up the same way. IF China refuses to recognize any position but its own, and now threatens military force, the stakes are raised in the South China Sea.  Getting a UN Tribunal to rule does not seem to carry much weight with China, and it very similar to the way it handles its cases with the World Trade Organization.  It ignores them, or works around them.

China is increasingly like a detached global maverick wandering around without any care as to what it bumps into.  The international norms don't carry any weight with them.  North Korea continues its march to nuclear weapons, and cyber operations that threaten us all.  North Korea helps Iran in the same endeavor.  China says, "Those guys are so hard to control," -right, like they have nothing to say about how North Korea acts.  In the meantime, we continue to cycle back and forth with trade deals the nibble around the edges but do very little.  Someday we will realize that China doesn't care what we think about their way of operating in the political and economic spectrum.  They just do what they want.