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Although China has promised that it won't use force in the mounting face-off with Vietnam, the People's Republic is taking measures to show muscle in the disputed South China Sea.
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First there was maritime patrol ship that Beijing sent to the South China Sea from the southern Chinese province of Guangzhou yesterday.
Where there's one, China plans to add hundreds more. China Daily is reporting that the China Maritime Surveillance force plans to beef up its serves with over 520 vessels by 2020.
Still, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hong Lei maintains that China will "not use force" in the growing dispute with Vietnam and five other nations and territories for sovereignty for the valuable water space.
It is still unknown just how much natural gas and oil is beneath the South China Sea's seabed.
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Some Chinese sources estimate it's over 200 billion barrels, roughly 80 percent of Saudi Arabia's oil reserves, but others say that's an extreme exaggeration.
The benefits may be unclear, but Beijing can calculate how much its mounting face-off with Vietnam over the sea space would cost the Chinese economy.
At face value, the price tag is US $12.7 billion-- the amount of Vietnam's trade deficit with China in 2010, according to Vietnam's General Statistics Office.
That's seven percent of China's trade surplus from last year, a small but significant chunk of the country's earnings.
Still, analysts say all-out war would mean a much more complicated calculation of losses.
Responding to the six-hour-long live-fire drills Vietnam conducted in the South China Sea-- one hour for each of the countries and territories laying claim on the waters, China's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hong Lei announced that China "won't use force" to respond to what it sees as offensives in an area where the People's Republic claims to have "indisputable sovereignty."
"I think that economics definitely had something to do with the announcement," said Nariman Behravesh, chief economist at the IHS Global Insight, a leader in economic analysis, on call from London.
It has growing trade links with all Asian economies, especially the countries interested in Spratly," Behravesh said, referring to the disputed islands, located in the South China Sea, closer to the Philippines.
Analysts believe that despite the ongoing deluge of strongly worded condemnations, accusing Vietnam of threatening Chinese autonomy in the region, China is likely to stand by its promise of detente.
