World’s and America’s focus has been on North Korea, and rightly so.
Tensions over China's island-building in the South China Sea may have eased in the past
year, but Beijing has kept busy.
New satellite imagery shows China has built infrastructure covering 72 acres (28 hectares)
in the Spratly and Paracel islands during 2017 to equip its larger outposts to be air
and naval bases.
The Washington-based Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative closely tracks developments in
the South China Sea, where China and several Asian governments have conflicting territorial
claims.
It said on Thursday there has been construction of hangars, underground storage, missile shelters,
radar arrays and other facilities.
In this video, Defense Updates analyses HOW CHINA HAS USED THE NORTH KOREAN CRISIS TO
FURTHER ITS CAUSE IN SOUTH CHINA SEA?
China’s sweeping claims of sovereignty over the sea have infuriated competing claimants
Malaysia, Brunei, Taiwan, Indonesia, the Philippines as well as Vietnam.
United States, Japan, Australia and India favor freedom of navigation as it is a very
important sea route with 5 trillion $ in trade, half of global merchant shipping and 1/2 of
world’s oil shipment pass through it.
The sea also has alleged 11 billion barrels of untapped oil and 190 trillion cubic feet
of natural gas.
China embarked on its massive land-reclamation program in early 2014.
South China Sea Arbitration, was an arbitration case brought by t Philippines against China
The landmark decision rejected China’s assertion that it enjoys historical rights over a huge
area of the South China Sea encompassed by a “nine-dash line.”
China had argued that the tribunal had no jurisdiction in the matter and rejected the
decision.
Many complex disputes have been resolved with this type of arbitration including maritime
boundaries.
China’s outright rejection symbolizes its high handed behavior and utter disregard for
international norms.
China has tried to change the territorial status quo gradually, island-by-island instead
of trying to capture in one go.
For example, China first occupied the Paracel Islands in 1974 and then slowly expanded its
presence southward by attacking Vietnam’s islands in the Spratly chain in the 1980s.
This strategy known as salami slicing, aims for slow accumulation of small changes.
China’s strategy relies on low-intensity but constant and simultaneous small provocations
at multiple pressure points.
This serve to stretch thin the capabilities of smaller nations like Vietnam to respond,
while limiting the risk of escalation to a manageable level.
For example, Vietnamese authorities have reported high levels of Chinese aggression in the waters
many times.
In certain cases, Chinese vessels have used high-pressure water pumps to attack Vietnamese
ships.
Some also rammed Vietnamese vessels intentionally, causing major damage and endangering the lives
of Vietnamese crew.
The new construction activity comes as China joins what are likely to be protracted negotiations
with Southeast Asian nations on a “ ode of conduct” for South China Sea.
Tensions with the US on the issue have also eased, despite Washington's criticism of Beijing's
conduct.
The construction is the follow-up phase to a campaign of land reclamation that was completed
by early 2016 in the Spratlys, an island chain where Malaysia, Taiwan, the Philippines, Vietnam
and Brunei also have claims.
According to the Pentagon, China has added more than 3,200 acres (1,248 hectares) of
land to the seven land features it occupies in the area.
China also seems to have halted smaller-scale operations to expand islands in the Parcels
that lie farther north, the initiative said.
The US and others have accused Beijing of further militarizing the region and altering
geography to bolster its sweeping claims across the South China Sea.
China says the man-made islands in the Spratlys, which are equipped with airstrips and military
installations, are mainly for civilian purposes and to boost safety for fishing and
maritime trade.
Greg Poling, the initiative's director, said China had seized a diplomatic opening after
the election of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, who adopted a conciliatory stance
toward Beijing over their territorial dispute.
It's also been less of a focus for President Donald Trump's administration, preoccupied
by North Korea's nuclear threat and trade disputes with China.
"It's gotten off the front pages, but we shouldn't confuse that with a softening in China's pursuit
of its goals.
They are continuing all the construction they want,” Poling said.
The most construction has been on Fiery Cross Reef in the Spratlys, including hangars alongside
its 10,000-foot (3,000-meter) airstrip, underground structures likely intended to house munitions
or other materiel, hardened shelters for missile platforms, and communication and radar facilities,
the initiative said.
It also noted that China has deployed new military aircraft at Woody Island in the Paracels.
At the end of October, the Chinese military released images of J-11B fighter planes there
for drills.
In mid-November, Y-8 transport aircraft were spotted on the same island that may be capable
of electronic intelligence gathering.
Marine Lt. Col. Christopher Logan, a Pentagon spokesman, said Thursday that he could not
comment in detail on US assessments of the region but that "further militarization of
outposts will only serve to raise tensions and create greater distrust among claimants."
The United States does not claim territory in the South China Sea but has declared it
has a national interest in ensuring that the territorial disputes there are resolved peacefully
in accordance with international law and that freedom of navigation and overflight are guaranteed.
China has opposed what it calls US meddling in an Asian dispute.
It is the greatest of irony that even a communist nation Vietnam has sought support from capitalist
America to counter belligerence and aggression from China which is a communist nation.
Chinese recent activities have been such.
China is embroiled in disputes on multiple fronts, latest being with India on Doklam plateau.
America under Trump had already stepped up the game with increase in frequency of Freedom
of Navigation Operations as well as initiating investigation in illegal trade practices of China.
It remains to be seen how U.S can respond to China and North Korea at the same time.