I would skim this article, but click on the map and blow it up and then look at the potential for conflict as everyone claims areas in the South China Sea. And China’s claim seems absurd, given its borders, etc. – it clearly infringes the 2000 shelf basin of almost every other country. This may not end prettily, as this is an emotional issue for the Chinese people. The party line on offshore territory has been drilled into the collective psyche; and no matter how absurd, they feel that territory is theirs, and that limits the government’s ability to negotiate rationally.