China Has Shifted From Building Islands In The South China Sea To Building Deep Sea Ports And Military Airstrips

Chinese dredging vessels are purportedly seen in the waters around Mischief Reef in the disputed Spratly Islands in the South China Sea in this file still image from video taken by a P-8A Poseidon surveillance aircraft provided by the United States Navy May 21, 2015. PHOTO: REUTERS

The Diplomat: A Military Game of Chicken in the South China Sea?

The South China Sea problem has been militarized and internationalized: what now?

Despite China’s protestations against discussing the issue, the South China Sea was front and center at this month’s meetings between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and other regional players in Kuala Lumpur. Amid criticisms of China’s island-reclamation activities, the U.S. and China continued to trade accusations that the other is militarizing the South China Sea. Meanwhile, China maintained its objection, to no avail, to internationalizing the South China Sea issue through the involvement of non-ASEAN members.

The ship has sailed on both fronts. Now, more than ever, the South China Sea has become both a military and international issue. Given how all parties appear to have dug deeper into their positions, the situation looks unlikely to change anytime soon.

Update: China may fear reputation damage more than military threats over South China Sea -- Ashley Townshend, The Guardian

WNU Editor: China's intentions have been very clear since day one .... the key question that still needs to be answered is .... will China use force to reinforce their territorial claims. I suspect that they will.