Global Weapons Exports and the Spratlys Dispute

I previously asked if the Spratlys dispute has partly been about promoting weapons exports for the benefit of the military industrial complex and domestic politicians.

The Economist gives us some clues (bold emphasis mine)

GLOBAL transfers of large conventional weapons such as tanks and planes were 24% higher in 2007-2011 than in 2002-2006, according to new data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. Deliveries to South-East Asia rose particularly steeply, jumping by 185% as tensions mounted over territorial claims in the South China Sea. Three-quarters of all exports in the past five years were made by five countries, as can be seen in the chart below. A notable recent development is China's ability to manufacture its own weapons. Consequently it now ranks as the sixth-biggest exporter, and having been the second-largest importer in 2002-06, it was only the fourth-largest in 2007-11. India remains the biggest importer of arms, buying 10% of the world's total. Perhaps surprisingly there was little change in the volume of arms sent to Arab Spring countries in the past year, though exports to Syria in 2007-2011 (supplied overwhelmingly by Russia) increased by nearly 600% on figures for 2002-06.

We never really know if governments, through their respective foreign policies, have been working in complicity to promote undeclared political agenda.