Tension has been building for some time now between the US and China causing dismay among certain areas of Asia. Things started escalating after it became known to the world about Beijing's moves to establish a presence in the disputed areas of the South China Sea, by building reefs and atolls into artificial islands, which looked like military bases to others.
Now a recent report informs us that there had been a "close encounter" between US and Chinese air-crafts last Wednesday, which have been called "unsafe" and which signals a disturbing turn of affairs for the region.
Scarborough Shoal, also known as Huangyan Dao, is a shoal located between the Macclesfield Bank and Luzon island in the South China Sea. [Photo Source]
It was reported that a U.S. Navy P-3 plane and a Chinese military aircraft came close to each other over the South China Sea in an incident which the Pentagon has described as "unintentional", but the whole region is on tenterhooks as to what turn this clash between these global players will take.
The air-crafts are said to have come within 1,000 feet (305 meters) of each other on Wednesday in the vicinity of the Scarborough Shoal, between the Philippines and the Chinese mainland, an area which has come into the spotlight after the move by China.
Already there has been talk of an arms race building up in the region with another regional giant, India, recently concluding successes in new missile tests, and especially its interceptor missile which was recently tested.
I do not have good feelings about this stand-off between these giants as there have been intensive military drills between the armies of the US and countries like India, Japan etc, which gives the impression that nobody is willing to stand back which could lead to nasty outcomes.
China has been building up its military power within this region. [Photo Source]
Sources for the post
- http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-china-defense-idUSKBN15O2ZJ?il=0
- http://www.news.com.au/world/analysts-warn-a-largescale-war-between-us-and-china-is-inevitable-but-not-everyone-agrees/news-story/5b0c69f59ae55be85d2baa050d8fd5ed
- http://indianexpress.com/article/world/pentagon-says-us-chinese-air-encounter-unintentional-4518779/
- http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/us/chinese-us-aircraft-in-unsafe-encounter-over-south-china-sea-us/articleshow/57092334.cms
- http://www.maritime-executive.com/article/china-may-build-base-at-scarborough-shoal
- http://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2003354/if-china-builds-scarborough-shoal-it-would-come-after
If you like my work, please up-vote and read more at 
You may also click the down-arrow next to my name (before my reputation score below) to follow me. Or you may just re-steem to share the love! 😊