BEIJING, May 19 -- China predicted Friday the oil reserves under the disputed Spratly Islands in the South China Sea would become the world's 'second Middle East.' 'There are huge mineral reserves under the Nansha (Spratly) Islands. ..and the 10 billion tons of oil and 1 trillion cubic meters (35 trillion cubic feet) of gas are predicted to be the second Middle East,' the official China Youth Daily said. China's oil reserves are dwindling fast as its booming economy consumes increasing amounts of fuel, and western analysts say unless China is able to exploit new deposits, it will become a net oil importer in the early part of the 21st century. The Spratly Islands are a string of coral reefs claimed in whole or part by China, Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines, Brunei and Taiwan. All but Brunei have garrisons stationed on the largest of the islands, which lie strategically in shipping lanes linking the Pacific and Indian Oceans. But China's claims to the archipelago, which is over 1,300 kilometers (800 miles) from China's nearest piece of undisputed territory, have heightened tensions in the region. Both Vietnam and the Philippines have had run-ins with the Chinese navy. Friction heated up between Manila and Beijing after China built structures on the Mischief Reef, well within the Philippines' 200- nautical-mile Exclusive Economic Zone. 'In 1946, after the victory of the anti-Japanese war, the Chinese government sent four warships to the South China Sea to recover the Nansha Islands and set up an administrative zone,' the newspaper said.
China did not assert its authority in the Spratlys until 1988 when it clashed with the Vietnamese navy. And only began systematically expanding its naval presence in the region when the United States withdrew its Seventh Fleet from Subic Bay in the Philippines in 1992. Prior to that, a Cold War standoff in the South China Sea between the United States and the Soviet Navy based in Vietnam's Cam Ranh Bay had limited China's presence in the region. China claims sovereignty over the Spratlys on the grounds that Chinese explorers visited the islands during the Han Dynasty, which ran from 206 BC to 220 AD. Beijing has called for negotiations with other claimants to find a peaceful solution, but warned last week that it would not compromise its territorial integrity.
