The runway at the Fiery Cross Reef, one of three China was constructing on artificial islands built up from seven reefs and atolls in the Spratlys archipelago, is shown in this IHS Jane's Satellite Imagery Analysis handout image released on January 4, 2016. REUTERS/CNES 2015. DISTRIBUTION AIRBUS DS / IHS: 1640203/HANDOUT VIA REUTERS
Derek Watkins, New York Times: What China Has Been Building in the South China Sea
China has placed runways and radar facilities on new islets in the South China Sea, built by piling huge amounts of sand onto reefs. The construction is straining already taut geopolitical tensions.
The speed and scale of China’s island-building spree in the South China Sea last year alarmed other countries with interests in the region. After announcing in June that the process of building seven new islands by moving sediment from the seafloor to reefs was almost done, China has focused its efforts on building ports, three airstrips, radar facilities and other military buildings on the islands. The installations bolster China’s foothold in the Spratly Islands, a disputed scattering of reefs and islands in the South China Sea more than 500 miles from the Chinese mainland.
China’s activity in the Spratlys is a major point of contention between China and the United States, and has prompted the White House to send Navy destroyers to patrol near the islands twice in recent months.
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WNU Editor: One has to wonder what is China's end game .... I suspect that when construction has been completed, the Chinese are going to make their intentions very clear, starting with the announcement of an Air Defense Identification Zone.
Update: Asia’S Mediterranean: Strategy, Geopolitics, and risk in the seas of the Indo-Pacific (Michael Auslin, War On the Rocks)
3 comments:
I knew it! The inscrutable little beggars are building the worlds largest Chinese food buffet. Now those signs reported to have seen in the area saying "We have MSG, deal with it!" make sense.
"The construction is straining already taut geopolitical tensions."
Gotta love it, straining already taut geopolitical tensions. However the strained taut tensions didn't result in any mention of China at the recent Sunnylands US-ASEAN hoo-haw, so I guess that the taut tensions weren't over-strained.
Nice writing, though. The NY Times is toeing the State Dept line just as it should. If a Times writer ever took the China side he'd be an ex-Times writer. And it gives the US Navy something to focus on, even if fruitlessly.
Some election nite music:
https://youtu.be/LnFz0U6qxUc
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