It is now a PR (public relation) battle between Vietnam/Phil and China. China is loosing. It is clear that the US is working overtime to give China a bad image (not just in the SCS, but also in the G7 and trade such as the hacking accusations) .Most western media paints China as the agressor in the SCS. CCP are now aware of this and trying to (hopelessly) rectify it in the UN.
The Western media has never been warm to China; this is not the thing of last month. So, nothing new on that front. PR is PR, it is not the law of relativity; perception can be altered. No one really wastes all their energy to maintain a perception forever good. You can act on your national interest first, and then work to straight up your image. Did the US care a bit about their perception when their national interest demanded that Saddam should go and Iraq should be divided?
This is not to say that China should ever start a skirmish. China should (and will) never shoot first.
Japan has become more militarized. Abe succeeded in modifying the arms export ban. With the blessing of the US, Japan nominated itself to become a military leader in Asia and Phil/Vietnam are happy to accept this. CCP did not foresee this 5-6 years ago.
That was destined to happen. Again, that's a process not a singular development. So what of the Viet and Phil are happy to accept; does their opinion really matter? Would Japan care if they disagreed? It is Japan's sovereign (hopefully) decision to decide to do whatever they want with their national defense. So long as not embedded in the US, this is not a concern for China. if Mr. Abe is able to liberate Japan's foreign policy from the US yoke, that's even encouraging.
Philippines is also becoming militarized. They no longer mind spending money on military arms.
Vietnam becomes more hardened and stubborn. Instead of becoming less anti-Chinese and start negotiating, they've become even more pro-US and pro-Japan.
Vietnamese civilian is quite unruly and extremely anti-Chinese. The country is quite unstabe and prone to a colour revolution.
Phil and Viet can militarize; who would care about that? Does not Venezuela or Bolivia buy arms? Probably on a larger scale than the dirt poor Phil or Viet. Would that bother the US even a bit?
Color revolution in Vietland is not a concern, either. The worst would be a Thailand-like scenario since I do not believe that the military would really allow that to happen.
It is in China's interest to see Vietnam become liable economic powers (a larger market for Chinese goods) but this cannot come at the cost of China's sovereignty.
So when August come and the rig goes home, nothing will be achieved. China will gain no new island or territory. Her image will take a bit hit. If the rig stay longer, her image will even be more damaged and Phil/Viet will be more hardened.
Where the rig will go from there is not clear. Besides, the area is already under Chinese sovereignty. That will not change when the rig leaves. Those waters will be monitored by the Navy.
The US will be welcomed back to Asia more than ever by the Phil and VN. VCP will become very pro-US or the country may even have a colour revolution. With a pro-US government and military support from the US, it will even be harder to take back the VN-occupied Island in the SCS.
The rebalance is an old story. US is not any more entrenched than it was a month ago. The US will not do anything when it comes to taking the islands back. They will have to fire at the Chinese Navy to stop it from monitoring the areas.
It can choke China or it can be used to trigger an arms conflict between China and VN/Phil in the future or it can be used to control Japan and S.Korea should they want to be more independent from the US (SCS is also the main trading route and lifeline for Japan/S.Korea). All of this is not good for the stability and growth of China.
US is already in control of the chokepoints all the way from the Hormuz to Malacca. So, practically, even without the Pinoy and Viet, they have the capability. If SK and JP (hopefully) adopt a more independent policy, they US will only have to listen to their demand. SK or JP are not pushovers. They are under US control because of their sold-out leadership, not because they are weak.
If you take all this into account, the best option for China is to make a quick and effective military strike against Vietnam to take back all the occupied Islands, destroy their airforce and naval assests and facilities. No need to occupy or enter their country. Here are the reasons why this is the best option and needs to happen now.
Should never happen. China should never be the one to fire the first shot. Lip service is OK, but keep war out of the picture. As long as China does not fire first, others will not dare it. Russia is under even greater strain with a much smaller economy but they are able to hold and actually deliver some good strategic points. China can win on the table, no need to go to the battlefield.
Note to the members: Take every poster's ideas as their own, but not as reflective of their nation. Nation is too big a concept to represented here. And no country actually share its foreign policy strategy with posters on PDF or CDF or others. We are, at best, making educated guesses. Online forums are not the holy grails of eternal truth.