Shippers gird for more South China Sea incidents

claims

Claims in the South China Sea. Note that China claims everything within the red line.

The ruling last week by an international tribunal  in the Hague against China’s claims over most of the South China Sea has raised uncertainty and tension amongst those in shipping and international trade.

The  very clear July 12 ruling could lead smaller Asian countries to be more assertive regarding their rights in these waters,  which, in turn, could increase the number of incidents with an increasingly expansionist and aggressive China, which its neighbors consider a bully. 

A big question is how much this will affect freedom of navigation in a sea through which goes  30 percent of world trade. The United States, for its part, has emphasized that it will do what is necessary to keep the shipping lanes open in the region.

To read a Wall Street Journal story on this, please hit this link.