Eyes on The South China Sea #246 By Hank Silverberg Most Americans probably can't find the South China Sea on a map. Partially because on many maps it's called the Philippine Sea. It's a vast part of the Pacific Ocean that encompasses 1,423,000 square miles bordering China, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, the Philippines and Taiwan, and therein lies the problem. The international community recognizes most of the sea as international waters, but the Chinese claim most of it as their territorial waters, including parts claimed by the other countries. As I wrote last week, even something as simple as the Barbie movie (see Barbie's nine dashes map from last week) can create controversy over just who owns what in that part of the world. The South China Sea is one of the busiest shipping lanes on Earth, and therefore has the potential to be a flashpoint for regional conflict that could escalate int...