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Gun-Crazy Right Wing Howls for Bob Costas to Be Fired

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jaunte12/03/2012 9:34:35 pm PST

Indian navy ready to deploy to South China Sea as tensions climb

HANOI/NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India has declared itself ready to deploy naval vessels to the South China Sea to protect its oil-exploration interests there, a potential new escalation of tensions in a disputed area where fears of armed conflict have been growing steadily.

India’s naval chief made the statement on Monday just as Vietnam’s state oil and gas company, Petrovietnam, accused Chinese boats of sabotaging an exploration operation by cutting a seismic cable being towed behind a Vietnamese vessel.
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Tensions have simmered in the South China Sea for many years but have escalated this year as an increasingly powerful China, which sees virtually the entire sea as its territory, begins to assert its long-standing offshore claims more vigorously.

Parts of the South China Sea are also claimed by the Philippines, Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia and Taiwan. The region, Asia’s biggest potential military troublespot, is believed to be rich in oil and gas — and more than half the world’s oil-tanker traffic passes through it.