South China Sea: Graphics update

Not to long ago I wrote how the South China Sea was becoming the newest hot spot in the world.  The current war on terror is simply a blip in what was a long term geopolitical shift away from Europe and towards the Pacific.  The United States will be far more focused in what is happening with the East Asian nations rather than the Eastern European nations as China is now the latest country to get into the geopolitical ring with the United States.  Below are a series of graphics that I wanted to share.

The first one above shows Chinese maritime claims.  The Spratly islands have been a major source of contention in the region because virtually every South East Asian nation has lain some sort of claim on what many believe is a oil rich region of the world.  As you can see in the graphics below the nations of South East Asia are being very aggressive in their claims. 

I also wrote in my post that China is in a very undesirable position when it comes to the sea lines.  As you can see in the illustration the limitations of Chinese submarines operations below, there are many choke points and few avenues of exit for the Chinese.  If  a conflict did break out between the United States then China would spend much of its time, and resources, figuring a way to break out the box that geography has placed them in.