Maritime spats 'stirring undersea arms race'

Territorial disputes in the East China Sea and South China Sea are fuelling a build-up in submarine fleets that can spark more frequent armed clashes in the already volatile waters, according to a US-based think-tank.

"The currency of naval power in the ESCS (East and South China seas) has become the submarine," Wikistrat, a consultancy that relies on "crowdsourced" analysts, said in its latest "simulation report".

With disputes in the region unlikely to be resolved soon via diplomacy, China, Japan and Vietnam will keep sending submarines to the East and South China seas in the next six years at least, it said.

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