We're Watching China

(The following is reprinted from www.MollieSanders.com)

“[The U.S. has] had a presence in the Western Pacific and the South China Sea for 50 to 60 years, even going back before World War II,” Rear Adm. Tom Carney, who is leading the naval exchange, told reporters in Danang [Vietnam], according to the Associated Press. “We have no intention of departing from that kind of activity.”

This was the conclusion of Patrick Barta’s July 16th article “U.S., Vietnam in Exercises Amid Tensions With China” in The Wall Street Journal.

The article began by announcing a series of joint naval exchanges between the U.S. and Vietnam. These exchanges have apparently been planned for some time, although they have taken on more meaning due to China’s increasing insistence on its claim to the South China Sea, including the Paracel Islands and the Spratly Islands, despite claims in part by several other Asian countries.

In the new eBook-only novel LT. COMMANDER MOLLIE SANDERS (written by myself and Mitch Miller), LCDR Sanders first works with the Coast Guard in the port of Los Angeles to prevent a terrorist attack.

Then she maneuvers her way onto a submarine sent on a reconnaissance mission to the South China Sea. The sub first stops at the Paracel Islands, and when it reaches the Spratly Islands, LCRD Sanders’ life is in danger.

No, this is NOT an instant novel. The truth is that the South China Sea has been an area of concern for many years for the U.S.

The screenplay “Lt. Commander Mollie Sanders” (dealing with the sub mission) was a 2005 quarterfinalist of the Nicholls Fellowship competition run by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (the same people who present the Oscars.)

As China’s military ambitions have grown, so has the threat to the peace in the South China Sea. In January 2007 Mitch and I attended the U.S. Naval Institute conference held in San Diego. Even then the presentations focused on the U.S. Navy’s concerns for the Pacific theater.

The growing tensions between the U.S. and China parallel in some ways the tensions between the U.S. and Japan that grew during the 1930s. And to a large extent these tensions are over the same issue – OIL!

On December 7, 1941, the U.S. was taken by surprise when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor even though the Japanese had already militarily expanded into Asia. This time the U.S. will be ready for China if that country decides to militarily expand into Asia.

China, we're watching you.

Get an eBook of this timely novel now for only $2.99 in formats for the Kindle, the Nook, Sony's Reader, the Kobo, your computer, etc. at http://budurl.com/MollieSandersebooks
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Phyllis Zimbler Miller is the author of the novel MRS. LIEUTENANT and her social media marketing company Miller Mosaic Power Marketing works with clients to use social media to attract more business. Read her social media marketing blog.

Flare Up Over Control of the South China Seas

In terms of future U.S. military conflicts, the South China Seas dispute among Vietnam, the Philippines, Taiwan, Brunei, Malaysia and China has great potential to create a major international hotspot. And the newest flare up adds more fuel to the fire, as the saying goes.

According to James Hookway’s June 10 Wall Street Journal article “Tensions Flare Over Disputed Asian Sea: China Warns Its Neighbors to Stop Looking for Oil, While Vietnam Reports Sabotage in a Regional Security Flashpoint:”

Tensions in the potentially resource-rich South China Sea flared as Vietnam accused China of sabotaging a seismic survey boat while China warned its neighbors to stop looking for oil in the disputed territory without its permission.

And the article goes on to say:

The territorial disputes were a focus of a regional security conference in Singapore on Saturday, where Defense Secretary Robert Gates said the U.S. was committed to defending its Southeast Asian allies. Mr. Gates predicted more clashes could occur unless rival claimants find a way to peacefully settle their disputes.

My husband/co-writer and I have been watching this potential hotspot for a long time because it is central to our screenplay “Lt. Commander Mollie Sanders,” which I am now adapting into a novel to be published through Amazon’s Kindle platform.

This new flare up is one of a string of incidents going back to the late 1980s. The question is whether going forward the U.S. will be pulled into a military role in the South China Seas.

Read the entire article now.
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Phyllis Zimbler Miller is the author of the novel MRS. LIEUTENANT and her social media marketing company Miller Mosaic Power Marketing works with clients to use social media to attract more business. Read her social media marketing blog.