The South China Sea: Flashpoint of the Asia-Pacific

http://www.corbettreport.com/the-south-china-sea-flashpoint-of-the-asia-pacific/

 If the Asia-Pacific region is becoming “the strategic and economic center of gravity” of the world, then the South China Sea may just be the strategic center of that strategic center.

• It is the second busiest sea lane in the world,

• and contains proven oil reserves of over 7 billion barrels,

• with an estimated 28 billion barrels total and

• 266 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.

• an increasingly assertive Chinese Navy,

• bolstered by a number of technological upgrades

• China to commission its first aircraft carrier later this year.

All of these developments have given rise to a new era of Chinese naval aggression

From this US-China nationalistic struggle for dominance over the prized sea lane, however, a third way is

• pushed by a corporate, multi-national power elite.

• disputes will not be settled one by one between disputant countries, but through a regional organization that will have increasing power to arbitrate over the region’s disputed waters.

The idea comes from the International Crisis Group, Whose funds come from the Carnegie Corporation, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, BP, Chevron, Shell, Morgan Stanley, and an assorted who’s who of council members, donors and advisors. Representing the same oligarchical interests as the Bilderberg Group, the Trilateral Commission, and other supranational organizations, the International Crisis Group asserts a post-nationalist philosophy of so-called humanitarian interventions and regional governmental frameworks.