Anti-Chinese protesters mass in downtown Hanoi on June 26, 2011. (Photo: Hoang Dinh Nam / AFP / Getty Images)
Recent months have seen a spike in tensions between China and some of its neighbors, particularly Vietnam and the Philippines, over the South China Sea. And while the dispute with Japan over the Diaoyu Islands has calmed since last year, the unease remains, as evidenced by Japan's wary reaction to the presence of Chinese warships in international waters near Okinawa recently. The root cause of these disputes is the disputed sovereignty of islands in the East and South China seas. The possibility of oil and natural gas in the seabed has helped raise the ante, as has China's rising military power and assertiveness.
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