What Happens If China Shuts Down The South China Sea?

Anthony Fensom, National Interest: $5 Trillion Meltdown: What If China Shuts Down the South China Sea?

China has fired off a music video, editorials and plenty of other propaganda, along with a few volleys from PLA Navy ships, in response to the international court ruling on the South China Sea, which it denounced as “null and void.” But after threatening to set up an air defense identification zone, what might the economic impact be if Beijing went one step further and closed off the entire area inside its so-called “nine-dash line”?

Based on a 1947 map by the then Kuomintang government, the vaguely defined nine-dash line encompasses around 90 percent of the South China Sea. It spans an area the size of Mexico extending more than one thousand kilometers from China, and which encompasses territory claimed by Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam.

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WNU Editor: A good summary on why the South China Sea is not only an important shipping lane, but a potentially rich resource area that can supply China's energy needs for decades.

Update: More pressure on the U.S. .... In South China Sea Dispute, Filipinos Say U.S. Credibility Is On The Line (NPR).