*I'm guessing this is just a simple, common, everyday war for oil gearing up here – but you'd think they'd at least conjure up some weapons-of-mass-destruction scenarios before they shoot some Filipinos.
*Was the world LACKING in trouble before this incident? World so boring that somebody has to pick on the Philippines?
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/asia-pacific/2012/05/20125109562394196.html
(...)
"The dispute began when Philippine authorities in April detected Chinese ships fishing there. They attempted to arrest the crew, but were blocked by Chinese surveillance vessels that were quickly deployed to the area.
"The shoal sits about 230 kilometres from the Philippines' main island of Luzon. The nearest major Chinese landmass is 1,200 kilometres northwest of the shoal, according to Philippine navy maps.
"The Philippines insists its claims to the area are backed by international law, but China claims virtually all of the South China Sea as its territory, including waters close to the coasts of the Philippines and other Asian countries.
"Taiwan, Brunei, Vietnam and Malaysia also claim parts of the sea, which is believed to sit atop vast oil and gas resources." (((
