US, India Consider Joint Patrols in South China Sea
The United States and India have held talks about conducting joint naval patrols that a U.S. defense official said could include the disputed South China Sea, a move that would likely anger Beijing, which claims most of the waterway. Washington wants its regional allies and other Asian nations to take a more united stance against China over the South China Sea, where tensions have spiked in the wake of Beijing's construction of seven man-made islands in the Spratly archipelago.
China's civilian fleet a potent force in Asia's disputed seas
From harassing Filipino fishing boats and monitoring oil exploration off Vietnam to playing cat-and-mouse with the Japanese coastguard, China's expanding fleet of civilian patrol vessels have become the enforcers in disputed Asian waters. The ships of the recently unified Chinese coastguard are a fixture around the disputed islands and shoals of the South and East China Seas. While the ships don't have the weaponry of military vessels, thus reducing the risk a confrontation could get out of control, they still represent a potent show of sovereignty. The coastguard is funded by China's State Oceanic Administration, a civilian body, although one U.S. naval officer and security experts said it coordinates its operations with the People's Liberation Army (PLA).
China's Civilian Fleet a Potent Force in Disputed Seas
From harassing Filipino fishing boats and monitoring oil exploration off Vietnam to playing cat-and-mouse with the Japanese coastguard, China's expanding fleet of civilian patrol vessels have become the enforcers in disputed Asian waters. The ships of the recently unified Chinese coastguard are a fixture around the disputed islands and shoals of the South and East China Seas. While the ships don't have the weaponry of military vessels, thus reducing the risk a confrontation could get out of control, they still represent a potent show of sovereignty.
Jamaica Seeks Oil Investors
Jamaica is seeking investors for its oil and gas exploration and has planned a second round of roadshows overseas to market the country's oil and gas exploration potential in January, according to a report on www.jamaicaobserver.com. This will be the second overseas marketing initiative of the Government, and will be conducted under the auspices of the state-owned energy company, the Petroleum Corporation of Jamaica (PCJ). In this round, the PCJ hopes to sell exploration licenses for the remaining 13 of 20 oil exploration blocks that make up Jamaica's prospectable area. At these roadshows, investors are introduced to information about Jamaica's oil and gas potentialā¦
