Photo courtesy of AMTI/CSIS

China Christens Contentious Military Outposts

| published October 10, 2015 |

By Keith H. Roberts, Thursday Review staff writer

 

Despite official opposition and numerous complaints to international organizations, China and its military have completed the construction of lighthouses, technology towers and other facilities on two tiny reefs in the South China Sea. The facilities are located on Cuateron Reef and Johnson South Reef, both part of the Spratly Islands, and both recognized by international groups as being part of the territory of the Philippines.

Chinese officials conducted ribbon-cutting ceremonies and posed for official photos as the Chinese flag was raised and the two facilities became operational this weekend. The United States, the Philippines, and a dozen other countries have expressed opposition to China’s claim to the reefs, which China says fall under its sphere of influence under the terms of territorial decrees made after World War II.

China has for decades claimed dominion over much of the South China Sea—despite United Nations and other organizations’ declarations to the contrary. In the last two years, however, China has stepped up its military expansion and in particular its naval operations in the troubled waters.

Chinese military planners and construction firms have been working around the clock constructing artificial islands in scores of locations in the international waters between its shores and those of its Asian neighbors, including Japan, the Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam, Taiwan, and Brunei. China has also been converting some small islands and reefs into semi-permanent military outposts, building runways for aircraft, installing helicopter pads, emplacing sophisticated radar installations, and deploying contingents of naval and marine detachments. The construction of the small but state-of-the-art facilities has created tension between China and the countries whose islands and reefs are at stake.

The Philippine military has deployed small detachments of specially trained marines to take up residence on some of the tiny islands, reefs, and shoals in an attempt to dissuade further Chinese expansion. In some areas of the Spratlys, Philippine naval crews have deliberately beached retired ships in order to create a foothold for Philippine marines, who live on board the stranded boats and live off supplies which are delivered by ferry each month.

Parts of the Spratlys are claimed by both the Philippines and China. Also at stake are the Paracel Islands, which sit roughly halfway between China, the Philippines and Vietnam. The Paracels have long been recognized by the United Nations as being part of Vietnam, but under the language in China’s declarations of its territory in the South China Sea and the East China Sea, the Paracels are considered by Beijing to be under China’s authority.

China disputes all claims that the waters are part of international territory, and has ramped up its assertions that other countries—especially the United States and its allies—not interfere with its naval and technological expansions in the waters off its coast.

The U.S. and other countries have been closely monitoring China’s expansions in the South China Sea for more than two years. Satellite and aerial imagery show rapid, heavy construction in about two dozen locations throughout the disputed waters. In some cases, entire islands are being constructed where little more than shallow water and protruding rocks existed. Several of the new islands include full-sized runways for fighter jets and transport planes, and almost all of the islands now include extremely sophisticated radar operations, listening equipment, satellite dishes, and communications hubs.

At the core of the claims and counter-claims over those waters are two critical factors: oil, and shipping lanes. The sea floor of the South China Sea is believed by some geologists to contain a potential for billions or barrels of oil. China has already constructed several enormous super rigs for drilling—floating oil wells which can be relocated by being towed from one location to another. Those giant rigs are usually accompanied by Chinese warships, and some of the drilling has taken place in waters claimed by Vietnam and Taiwan.

Furthermore, according to reports in Reuters and according to some global economic experts, goods and materials worth some $5 trillion pass each year through the South China Sea—more seaborne movement of assets than in any other comparable body of water, including the Persian Gulf. When China’s oil drilling operations reach full stride, that value could double.

China has dismissed the claim that it is seeking to forcibly extend its control over the area. Not only does it reject competing territorial claims for the islands, reef and rocks, it says that its massive construction projects are designed for a common good: environmental observations, maritime safety and security, and rapid-response for natural disaster and accidents at sea. As an example, Chinese officials point to the loss of a Malaysian Air jetliner last year, for which few traces have ever been found despite intense searches by a dozen countries. Beijing says that if China had forward-looking radar and other high tech equipment already in place, the plane’s exact whereabouts might have been more easily tracked.

The White House and the Pentagon say that the United States does not recognize China’s arbitrary claim to the waters between China’s shores and the coasts of its Pacific neighbors. The U.S. Navy is considering challenging China’s broad assertions of sovereignty by sending a flotilla of warships and surveillance ships into the international waters in the Spratlys and near the Paracels, if for no other reason than to communicate with Beijing that Washington does not recognize China’s claims to the waters.

Related Thursday Review articles:

Tensions in the South China Sea; R. Alan Clanton; Thursday Review; May 30, 2015.

Troubles in the South China Sea; R. Alan Clanton; Thursday Review; August 23, 2014.