This is Fiery Cross island.
It's a little more than one square mile in size and it's
home to a Chinese military base.
There's a 10,000 foot airstrip, an
advanced radar station, a missile defense
system, and about 200 troops.
But the strangest thing about Fiery Cross Island
is that two years ago,
it didn't exist.
And neither did the six other Chinese
military bases that have been built on
man-made islands in the South China Sea.
If you look at this satellite image from
2014, you can see huge Chinese ships
collecting around remote reefs in the Spratly
Islands. An archipelago in the South China Sea.
In this image, these ships are
rapidly pumping sand and rock up onto the
reef.
They're building islands.
And less than a year later, the Chinese had seaports
air bases and buildings on their new
islands and the world had taken notice.
We continue our look this morning on what
China does not want you to see the
superpower is reclaiming land in seven
spots in the South China Sea adding on
average more than three-and-a-half acres
everyday. With these islands times trying
to lay claim to one of the most
important areas of ocean in the world
the South China Sea.
The South China Sea
is incredibly rich in natural resources
11 billion barrels of oil, 190
trillion cubic feet of natural gas and
ten percent of the world's fisheries.
Most importantly though, 30%
of the world's shipping trade flows through
here to the booming population centers
and economic markets of Southeast Asia.
It's an extremely important body of
water and right now five countries lay
claim to some part of it.
Now, most countries base their claim off the UN
Law of the Seas, which says a country's
territorial waters extend 200 miles
off their shore. An area called the exclusive
economic zone, or EEZ.
Countries have exclusive rights to all the resources
and trade in there EEZ. It's their
sovereign territory.
So for example, any oil that's found within
200 miles off the coast of Vietnam
belongs exclusively to Vietnam.
But any area that isn't in an EEZ is regarded as
international waters and it falls under
UN maritime law which means everybody
shares it.
Now, every country in the South
China Sea region uses this 200-mile EEZ
threshold to determine its claims.
All except China. China argued they have a
historical claim to the South China Sea
dating back to naval expeditions in the
15th century. And they mark it using a really
confusing border called the nine-dash line.
Following World War II, Japan who
had dominated the entire region, lost all
control of its surrounding seas. China
used the moment to claim the South
China Sea by drawing this imprecise
line on the map that encompassed ninety
percent of the South China Sea. It became
known as the nine-dash line.
When the UN established the 200-mile EEZ in 1973
China stuck to its own line, refusing to
clarify its boundaries and ignoring claims
by other countries. Now that brings us to
the Spratly Islands. It's a remote barely
inhabited cluster of islands currently
claimed by China, Vietnam, the Philippines,
and Malaysia. The Spratlys are both
geographically and symbolically at the
heart of South China Sea.
That's because any country that can
claim the Spratly islands can extend
their EEZs to include them and gain
exclusive rights to the surrounding
territory.
But it's really hard to legitimately claim uninhabited piles of
sand so a few nations have built small
buildings and ports on their claimed
islands and even stuck a few people
there. But China believes all the Spratly
Islands belong to them which brings us
back to why they're building islands there.
Installing military bases on
these new artificial islands took the
dispute to a whole new level
showing how China's potentially willing
to defend its claims with force.
Now this is about when the United States
took notice. While the US has no claim in
the South China Sea, it is the world's
lone superpower and uses its massive
Navy to defend international waters.
China sees the US presence in the area
as an encroachment in their backyard.
When a US destroyer ship sailed just 12
miles off the shore of one of China's
man-made islands and the Spratlys
China sent out their own destroyer and a
patrol boat as a warning.
China is building these islands in order
to increase control around the
surrounding waters. Using a strategy that
they've deemed "The Cabbage Strategy".
Where they surround a contested island with as many
ships as possible. In May of 2013
China sent several ships to Ayungin
shoal, which is just 105
nautical miles off the coast of the
Philippines, well within that 200 mile
EEZ. The Philippines has eight soldiers
stationed there. Like wrapping leaves
around a cabbage the Chinese sealed off
the Philippines access to Ayungin
Shoal with fishing boats, surveillance
ships, and navy destroyers creating
blockade so that the Filipinos can't
receive shipments of food and supplies.
By building their own man-made Islands
China's essentially building naval bases.
The more Islands they have the more ships
they can support and more territory they
can slowly take control of. And the
Chinese cautiously use the cabbage
strategy in the Spratly islands, taking
over contested territory but in small
steps avoiding the possibility of
igniting a bigger conflict. But the
disputes are intensifying. Countries are
now actively arresting trespassers in
waters that they claim and China could
go a step further. Since 2015 they've
threatened to declare an air
identification zone above the South
China Sea, declaring that all aircraft
that fly through it would need Chinese
permission. Now, publicly China insists
that their intentions are not
militaristic but their actions say
otherwise and it's heightening tensions
in the region
Steve Bannon who sits on the US National
Security Council and who is one of
President Trump's closest advisors is
almost certain that the US will go to
war in the South China Sea. "We're going
to war in the South China Sea, I was a sailor
there, a naval officer, we're going to war
the South China Sea in five to ten
years aren't we?"
"there's no doubt about it"
But for now the disputes remain only in
the legal and diplomatic realms that only
occasionally break into minor clashes. In
July 2016 the international court at the
Hague ruled in favor of the Philippines
who charged China with invading their
rightful territory in the South China Sea.
China dismissed the ruling and enforcement
of the law doesn't seem likely. Even from
the US who released a vague statement urging
the two countries to "clarify their
claims" and "work together to resolve their
disputes" which is another way of saying
"we don't really want to deal with this".
In fact, as the conflict escalates and
international courts get involved, the
US is stuck in a tricky position. On
one hand, they do not want to risk
provoking a conflict with China. But on
the other they want China to stop
bullying their allies in the region.
Up until now the US has managed the
situation by continuing to patrol through the
South China Sea.
It's also likely that the US would fly fighter
jets above the sea if China actually does
declare an air identification zone.
These are symbolic but effective ways of
keeping Chine in check while not
getting too involved in the details of
the conflict. So far the disputes in the
South China Sea have not become violent
but countries are starting to defend
their claims by increasing troop numbers,
weaponizing their territory and
provoking each other. It's a complex
situation that will continue to gain
international attention for better or
for worse.