Who says wartime says economic instability, who says economic instability says good time for gold. Let us look at the potential dispute that exists in Asia.
When people think of the conflict that could spark World War III, they often are thinking of Russia’s aggression towards its immediate neighbors, Georgia and Ukraine to name a few. They wrongly neglect too often Chinese expansionism, which is manifested especially in South China Sea.
For those who have never heard of it, the Spartleys islands are microscopic islands that have very little land above sea level – just 5 meters for the largest island among the group of islands. Until the twentieth century they have never had the slightest importance of some sorts whatsoever, but recently they are central to the concerns of all countries in the region.
controls and claims in the south china sea.
The reason is simple, a very large part of world seaborne trade (32%) passes through these waters. The control of these islands would give the country that holds them a glance right on this traffic and a disproportionate power of manipulation. This is why no country would give up its territorial claims. But among the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, China and Brunei there is one great military power, and this is China.
And it must be reminded that China is currently the largest producer and consumer of gold. The influence such a conflict would have on the price of the yellow metal is not small.
