China faces Manila protest over lagoon

The monthlong standoff between China and the Philippines over a remote South China Sea shoal is snowballing with hints of economic retaliation and sharpening public opinion on both sides — possibly narrowing the space for a hoped-for negotiated settlement.

While most consider the Middle-East a hot-bed of geopolitical risk (prone to flare at any moment), it seems hot money flows and territorial disputes are rapidly turning the South China Sea into a powder-keg.

Beijing for years has relentlessly projected a benign image in its foreign policy, but as its maritime neighbors are discovering, China’s pacifist representations do not extend to energy issues, most notably in the disputed South China Sea. Now, Chinese “imperial” overreach may bring U.S. naval forces once again into the western Pacific, as Beijing’s southeast Asian neighbors feel increasingly threatened by China’s overarching territorial claims in the South China Sea.

The Philippines said Thursday that it had pulled its largest naval vessel away from a remote lagoon in the South China Sea where it was engaged in an uneasy standoff with two Chinese maritime surveillance ships.

PYONGYANG, North Korea — North Korea delivered a fresh round of rhetoric Thursday with claims it had “powerful striking means” on standby for a launch, while Seoul and Washington speculated that the country is preparing to test a medium-range missile during upcoming national celebrations.

The back-and-forth between China, Japan, and the U.S. over disputed islands in the East China Sea this week continued ratcheting up, exposing policies that could prevent any diplomatic solution. China's new map: