U.S. Navy says it won't be deterred by Chinese-built islands in South China Sea

Indeed and several countries claim the Spratly Islands (China, Taiwan, Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam, and Brunei) and with the discovery of natural resources there, the subject of ownership has become a more hotly contested issue. Vietnam has just recently installed a base on one of the islands, which they claim is defensive but I don't think China sees it that way and it is just heating up tensions. China is the elephant in the room and I don't think any of the countries laying claim to ownership can do much to stop China from extracting resources there. They can complain to the UN and the UN won't do anything because China has ̶d̶i̶r̶t̶ influence over the leaders. ; )