Merchant shipping unaffected by Chinese military presence in South China Sea

London

CHINA'S growing military presence in the South China Sea has drawn warnings from the United States that Beijing is seeking to exert control over one of the world's most important sea lanes, but so far the shipping industry seems less concerned.

Beijing has been increasingly assertive in staking its claim to almost the whole of the sea, though which trillions of dollars of trade passes each year.

This month, China landed its first test flights on a new 3,000 m runway that it built on a reef in the Spratly Islands, drawing protests from Vietnam and the Philippines which have overlapping claims in the area.

Despite the diplomatic tensions, merchant shipping said that operations are, as yet, unaffected. "For ship owners, it's business as usual," said Bjorn Hojgaard, chief executive officer at Anglo-Eastern Univan Group, one of the world's biggest ship management companies. "From our point of view, it's j…