So, it this posturing or have they decided that they are in charge?

South China Sea dispute

It's not posturing.  China is more willing to fight for those resources that anyone else is.  The state department comment about "collaborative diplomatic efforts", that's not even posturing, just pathetic.

[Bestie Boys]  They wanna' Fight...  For their Right...  (The Paaaaaaaaaaartyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!!!) [/Beastie Boys]

What the Central Communitst Party Committee is saying...  We are the new bosses and what are you going to do about it???

The USA is not going to ride to the rescue of..  Vietnam?  Borneo?  

Imagine the might of the Phillipine armed forces (air & naval) against China?  (bet they are sorry NOW that they "kicked us out" of those bases...  )

China will do whatever it takes to ensure it's supply chain and energy.

Does that mean I will soon be able to get vietnamese food at my favorite Chinese resturaunt too?

It's all posturing.  Nothing could be developed/extracted for years and there are not even verified numbers for any gas/oil deposits. If your truly interested in this top you should read up on the recent Shangrala dialogue/conference and US DoD statements.  Quite frankly the PRC is in no position to risk military actions in the south china sea at this time or in the near future.

75+% of my phd research is on military affairs in east Asia.  Not saying I am an expert but prior navy please in-depth research on this area makes me feel confident on this.

Most of the talk on the PRC is just lame.  They lack the naval capabilities to truly deter either the US or the JSDF.

Both sides are guilty of posturing.

In other news, the CCP placed a rather convincing add in the NYT detailing exactly why they deserve those islands.  I'm slow to take China's side due to, ahem, ideological differences, but they at one time and for a long time had control over those islands. Whether or not these claims are valid is beyond me, but remember Japan has invaded China at one point, making many of their land disputes hard to resolve.

Further complicating the issue is Japan's dire need for resources. They are an island nation whose main resources are impressive exports, they need natural resources very badly. And since the US is Japan's main muscle (have been since WW2), they are relying on us to back claims that the island is THEIRS.

So we are caught between a rock and a hard place. On one hand we risk strained relations with China, who while a growing threat are currently not very threatening. On the other hand, if we supported China, that would be going against months of campaign rhetoric and hurt our island friends of Japan. No winning there.

China pays the Times for consideration.  You aren't getting unbiased data.

Noted. The information was read with a grain of salt, or a shot of soy sauce, if that suits the topic better.

I for one, hate advertisements of any kind.

How  much money do we still owe them???

It's J*M*SDF, Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force.

What did you do in the Navy?

US Navy warships regularly visit the PI.  Why do you think that would be?  

It's all about control of trade sea lanes, oil, rare metals, rich fishing grounds, and other resources. Guess who controls the world market on rare metals so important in high tech manufacturing and weaponry. China's power projections is about its future. It needs the geopolitical positioning and natural resource potential of the area. Also heard they just added another line to their "nine-dash line". So what's the limit? A 30 dash line all the way to Guam? Hawaii? Australia? The South Pole?