Another great blog post by Walter Mead on China's claims in the South China Sea. Basically a lot of local competing agencies in China have their own agendas, which are not matching the agency that should be in charge (foreign ministry). Translation - there is a lot of danger of escalation as China's agencies are playing chicken for their own goals.

Nine Dragons Stirring Up The Sea - Via Meadia

This South China Sea Map from the Economist beautifully shows the competing claims: