How China is Secretly Expanding its Territory
Philippines have all built military facilities on the
islands to exert their power, bu What you are seeing are small islands located in the middle of the South China Sea. The South China Sea has been an area of controversy for decades, starting
back in 1982 when the United Nations established the Law of the Sea which regulates the international
sea rights of the neighboring states. Since various nations border
the sea, over six different governments had claimed part of the Paracel and Spratly Islands.
The treaty allowed multiple nations to use the area, since all ships were granted the
right to pass through the South China Sea no matter where they originally came from.
However, the treaty did give certain privileges by creating exclusive economic zones for each
nation involved, also known as an EEZ. It
even got to the point of serious violation after China created the Haiyang Shiyou oil
rig in Vietnam’s EEZ in 2014.
The Chinese government believes that ownership of the South China Sea is crucial to protect
the nation from foreign invaders, such a s the United States. However, when we look at the amount
per square kilometer, it quickly becomes clear that there is still significant potential
here.
The Chinese government believes that they have history on their side, since China has
been using the South China Sea ever since the Western Han Dynasty back in 206 B.C..
The United Nations does not believe that the Law of the Sea should take history into account
when it comes to this dispute, especially since the accuracy of China’s historical
claims is questionable. Although most people see the line
as meaningless in terms of international law, China is still using it to defend its supposed
rights over the sea.
The Spratly Islands are a particularly contentious area in the South China Sea. Vietnam, China, and thet China went even a step further, by building entirely
new artificial islands.
When Vietnam started to try to take control of the Paracel Islands in 2009, China decided
to fight back. In 2013, China started to take it way too far by building their own artificial
islands in the South China Sea. The nation built seven islands near the Spratly Islands in 2016 and expanded into
the Paracel Islands in 2017. Over time, China has continued to build more and more on the island, hoping
to eventually take complete ownership over major areas of the contested Spratly Islands.
To make the islands, China is building on top of existing structures. Beijing claimed they would try to reverse
the environmental damage that the construction caused, but some of the effects on marine
life are likely irreversible.
Despite all the insane work that China has put into building these islands, they are
not turning out to be as successful as they hoped. Beginning
in 2015, Vietnam has been working on 10 new islands in the South China Sea.