As Rising Economic Power: What does China Want?

In September of 2010 a Chinese fishing trawler was intercepted near the Japanese held  Senkaku Islands which are also claimed by China which calls the islands Diaoyu.  After a nearly four chase the trawler rammed the Japanese coast guard patrol boat.giving chase  and the captain was arrested.   Even though the incident was captured on film the Chinese government retaliated by cutting off all exports of Rare Earths to Japan which are used in the manufacture of electronic devices such as computers and mobile phones.    

A 1785 Japanese map, the Sangoku Tsūran Zusetsu (三国通覧図説) by Hayashi Shiheiadopted the Chinese kanji (釣魚臺 Diaoyutai) to annotate the Senkaku Islands, which were painted in the same color as China.^[5][10] The primary text itself can be found here.^[11

Beginnings

Following the Meiji Restoration, the Meiji Japanese government formally annexed what was known as the Ryukyu Kingdom as Okinawa Prefecture in 1879. The Senkaku Islands, which lie between Ryukyu Kingdom and Qing empire, became the Sino-Japanese boundary for the first time.
In 1885, the Japanese Governor of Okinawa Prefecture, Nishimura Sutezo, petitioned the Meiji government asking that it take formal control of the islands.^[5] However, Inoue Kaoru, the Japanese Minister of Foreign Affairs, commented that the islands lay near to the border area with the Qing empire and that they had been given Chinese names. He also cited an article in a Chinese newspaper that had previously claimed that Japan was occupying islands off China's coast. Inoue was concerned that if Japan proceeded to erect a landmark stating its claim to the islands, it would make the Qing empire suspicious.^[5] Following Inoue's advice, Yamagata Aritomo, the Minister of the Interior turned down the request to incorporate the islands, insisting that this matter should not be "revealed to the news media".^[5]On 14 January 1895, during the Sino-Japanese War, Japan incorporated the islands under the administration of Okinawa, stating that it had conducted surveys since 1884 and that the islands were terra nullius (Latin: no man's land), with there being no evidence to suggest that they had been under Qing empire's control.
After China lost the war, both countries signed the Treaty of Shimonoseki in April 1895 that stipulated, among other things, that China would cede to Japan "the island of Formosa together with all islands appertaining or belonging to said island of Formosa (Taiwan)".^[6]

Spratly Islands

The Spratly Islands are a group of more than 750 reefs,^[1] islets, atolls, cays and islands in the East Sea. The archipelago lies off the coasts of the Philippines and Malaysia (Sabah), about one third of the way from there to southern Vietnam. They comprise less than four square kilometers of land area spread over more than 425,000 square kilometers of sea. The Spratlys are one of three archipelagos of the South China Sea which comprise more than 30,000 islands and reefs and which complicate governance and economics in that region of Southeast Asia. Such small and remote islands have little economic value in themselves, but are important in establishing international boundaries. There are no native islanders but there are rich fishing grounds and initial surveys indicate the islands may contain significant reserves of oil and natural gas.
About 45 islands are occupied by relatively small numbers of military forces from Vietnam, the People's Republic of China, the Republic of China (Taiwan), Malaysia and the Philippines. Brunei has also claimed an EEZ in the southeastern part of the Spratlys encompassing just one area of small islands above mean high water (on Louisa Reef.)

Large deposits of oil and gas are believed to lie beneath the waters surrounding the islands because China has no real oil reserves of its own gaining control of these the Spratly islands could if the oil and gas deposits are confirmed would give China  some energy independence,  Lessening its dependence on oil and natural gas from Africa and the Middle East,

Strategic natural resources are just one of the areas where China finds its self in dispute with one of its neighboring countries.  Vietnam and China have been at loggerheads over territorial navigation rights of waters adjoining both nations .

China's foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei said Chinese fishing boats were chased away by armed Vietnamese ships on Thursday.
He said that during the incident the fishing net of one of the Chinese boats became tangled with the cables of a Vietnamese oil exploring vessel which continued to drag the Chinese vessel for more than an hour before the net had to be cut.

"By conducting unlawful oil and gas surveys in seas around the Wanan Bank of the Spratly archipelago and by driving out a Chinese fishing vessel, Vietnam has gravely violated China's sovereignty and maritime rights," said Mr Hong.
"China demands that Vietnam cease all violations," he said, adding that Vietnam should "not take actions that would complicate and expand the dispute".

China unlike the United States doesn't have the same quantities natural mineral at the time America achieved its economic and political dominance.  It would seem that China's government is moving aggressively to secure these resources.  Asia isn't the only place where China has done this.  In Africa Chinese agricultural concerns have been large sections farm land so that the food produced there can be shipped back to and sold to the Chinese consumer.