There is an urgent need
for the countries involved in the issue of the Spratly islands to
settle the disputed oil rich reefs.ASEAN countries including the
PEOPLES REPUBLIC OF CHINA must negotiate for a peaceful
resolution.SINGAPORE has economic interests in this islands to
pursue this
before the ASEAN regional
forum,aside from Beijing.
The South China Sea region is the world's second busiest
international sea lane. More than half of the world's supertanker
traffic passes through the region's waters. In addition, the South
China Sea region contains oil and gas resources strategically
located near large energy-consuming countries.
The South China Sea encompasses a portion of the Pacific
Ocean stretching roughly from Singapore and the Strait of Malacca
in the southwest, to the Strait of Taiwan (between Taiwan and
China) in the northeast. The area includes more than 200 small
islands, rocks, and reefs, with the majority located in the Paracel
and Spratly Island chains. Many of these islands are partially
submerged islets, rocks, and reefs that are little more than
shipping hazards not suitable for habitation; the total land area
of the Spratly Islands is less than 3 square miles. The islands are
important, however, for strategic and political reasons, because
ownership claims to them are used to bolster claims to the
surrounding sea and its resources.
http://www.geocities.com/mspilker2000/spratly_islands.htm