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What Is China Building In The South China Sea?
Submitted by Ethan Rosen via BellingCat.com,
The South China Sea contains some of the planet’s most disputed territory. Six countries - China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Brunei - are squaring off as they compete over the rights to the sea.
The dispute centers on the contested Spratly Island Chain, a hodgepodge of small islands and submerged reefs which lie near the center of the South China Sea. All but Brunei have built military outposts in the Spratlys, and all of these countries minus China have built military airstrips on the islands. China, which arrived late to the Spratly land-grab, was left to occupy eight fully and semi-submerged reefs. With such little land to build upon, China has been playing catch up ever since.
Over the past year, China’s Spratly outposts have been systematically undergoing a process known as “land reclamation,” where dedicated dredging vessels dig up sediment from the sea and dump it on top of submerged reefs to make islands. China has already built five islands through reclamation, and at least two additional islands are in the early stages of development. China is not the first claimant to reclaim land – Malaysia’s Swallow Reef and several Vietnamese islands have been artificially built or extended – but China’s reclamation efforts are operating at a larger scale than any previous project. Already, the artificial island built on Fiery Cross Reef has eclipsed Taiwan’s Taiping Island as the largest in the Spratly Chain, and buildings are under development on several other Chinese reefs. As their new military outposts become operational, it is imperative that we understand just what China is building in the South China Sea.
Fiery Cross Reef
Fiery Cross Reef (also known as Yongshu Island) was completely underwater until August 2014, when Chinese dredgers began to dig up the surrounding sediment. Before construction began, the Chinese presence consisted of a single concrete bunker on the reef’s southwest end, but this island has since become the largest in the Spratly chain, measuring nearly 2.3 km². The new island includes a nearly two-mile long strip of land that appears to be the future site of an airfield.
Between November 2014 and January 2015, the southwest of the reef was reclaimed, connecting the airfield with the original concrete structure and enlarging the total land mass of the reef. Dredging activity has not ceased, and land is still being reclaimed. Recent photographs released by Philippine media show that foundations in development for a large scale construction project on the northeast of the island.
Johnson South Reef
Johnson South Reef has undergone one of the most extraordinary transformations of any Spratly feature. Photographs released by the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs show that land reclamation began in early 2014, and new photographs indicate that reclamation is still ongoing.
In early September 2014, nearly simultaneous reports released by IHS Janes and the BBC revealed the beginnings of a large construction project. It is unclear exactly when this construction began, but photographs taken in early December of 2014 clearly show a sizable building, possibly as high as ten stories, under construction on the newly developed island.
The photographs taken and released by Vietnam’s Thanh Nien News agency show a number of construction sites under development, including what may be an air traffic control center. Philippine media has claimed that Johnson South Reef will one day contain an airstrip, but current photographs fail to backup this claim.The reef’s area is roughly 6 km², and the island itself is approximately .16 km², which leaves ample room for further reclamation.
Cuarteron Reef
Cuarteron Reef is both China’s southernmost and westernmost outpost in the Spratly chain. Land reclamation on the reef appears to have started in March 2014. As of January 2015, China has built between .3 and .4 km² of new land. The newly built island is home to a seawall, a small military outpost, a helicopter pad, an artificial harbor, and a dock. Satellite photographs show ongoing construction projects, however photographs are not clear enough to make out what is being built.
Gaven Reefs
The Gaven Reefs are home to a mid-scale land reclamation project that has produced an artificial island approximately .08 km². Between June and August 2014, this island expanded from one small outpost into the buttressed island that exists today. Photos show that the new island contains barracks for construction workers and military personnel, shipping containers used as temporary shelters, an artificial harbor, and anti-aircraft weaponry. A report from IHS Janes indicates that this island contains both radar equipment and anti-ship missiles.
Hughes Reef
Land reclamation on Hughes Reef appears to have begun in March 2014. Satellite photographs suggest that construction is ongoing on the newly built island. Reports indicate that the new island is home to a lighthouse and a military outpost.
Subi Reef
Subi Reef, China’s northernmost outpost in the South China Sea, is the most recent subject of land reclamation. Satellite photographs from early February, 2015 show a significant presence of dredgers working two separate points on the southeast and the southwest of the reef. Dredging at Subi Reef first appeared in satellite photographs taken on January 26, 2015, which showed that two dredging ships had begun work on Subi Reef’s southwest end. Prior to the start of land reclamation, Subi reef contained a helicopter pad and a small concrete outpost used to house visiting troops.
Mischief Reef
Mischief Reef is China’s easternmost outpost in the Spratly chain. Satellite photographs from the end of January indicate that land reclamation has just begun. These photographs show a presence of dredging vessels on the southern end of the island, as well as the addition of new land separate from an existing concrete structure. Mischief Reef is less than 200 miles from the Philippine island of Palawan (less than 150 miles from some points), thus putting the reef well within the Philippines’ Exclusive Economic Zone. Predictably, the start of reclamation at Mischief Reef has been met with significant protest from the Philippines.
Eldad Reef
Eldad Reef is home to a naturally occurring teardrop-shaped sandbar on its north end. The sandbar’s size and shape remained consistent in photographs taken between January 2012 and November 2013. More recent photographs, show a slight increase in size of the sandbar, indicating that there may be a low-level reclamation project underway on Eldad reef. These photographs fail to capture dredging vessels and may simply be showing naturally occurring changes, however Philippine intelligence and media claim that Eldad Reef is in fact a current target of Chinese land reclamation. The situation on Eldad is ambiguous, and we should continue to watch the reef for signs of reclamation.
Based on satellite photographs and intelligence reports, it is clear that China is currently reclaiming land on at least seven of its eight reefs — Fiery Cross, Johnson South, Gaven, Hughes, Cuarteron, Subi, and Mischief — and that reclamation may have also begun on Eldad Reef. Reclamation on Johnson South, Gaven, Hughes, and Cuarteron Reefs started in early 2014, reclamation of Fiery Cross Reef began in August 2014, and reclamation on Subi and Mischief Reefs started in late January 2015. Land reclamation on Eldad reef may have started in December 2014.
* * *
Photographs indicate that massive construction projects are underway on the newly build islands at Fiery Cross and Johnson South Reefs, while less extensive but still serious construction is ondoing at Hughes, Gaven, and Cuarteron Reefs. Given the extent to which future control over the shipping lanes of the South China Sea will impact the global balance of power, China’s island construction is worthy of our attention.
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my co-worker's ex-wife makes $80 hourly on the computer . She has been out of work for 10 months but last month her paycheck was $12310 just working on the computer for a few hours. look at this now... www.globe-report.com
So long as the Chinese haven't learned any bad lessons from the American or British Empires over the past centuries things should prove to be very quiet and peaceful in the South China Sea.
BTW... isn't that the same place they were drilling for oil last year?
China is building Morgan SafeHaven Hotel Fortress chain "for the discriminating executive."
What a waste of time this article is.
It's a waste all around. These reefs were some of the richest natural habitats in the world. They are probably completely destroyed.
Jimi Hendrix refernece:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nbj5pM1HnAI
STOP THE PRESSES... THIS JUST IN... The Iraqi army has finally shot something down and Downing Street is not amused...
TEHRAN (FNA)- Iraq's army has shot down two British planes as they were carrying weapons for the ISIL terrorists in Al-Anbar province, a senior lawmaker disclosed on Monday."The Iraqi Parliament's National Security and Defense Committee has access to the photos of both planes that are British and have crashed while they were carrying weapons for the ISIL," Head of the committee Hakem al-Zameli said, according to a Monday report of the Arabic-language information center of the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq.
He said the Iraqi parliament has asked London for explanations in this regard.
http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13931204001534
Iraq needs to seek assistance from China and Russia to help protect their country..Israel and the house of Saud are going to divide their land.
China's building a Diego Garcia theme park.
they are building a fake new york because there are some of earth's resources left they haven't wasted yet.
Ever since my college days studying natural resources , I have always hated the term "reclaimed" . I am Far from being a lib environmental freak, "reclaiming". ... Time marches on, wind, earth, and fire with it. Somehow we can reclaim shit? I find that the ultimate of hubris.
For those Junkers....fuck you. A person can understand nature without being a socialist lib.
Once again, junk with no argument. Log off ZH and turn on Fox News Assholes.
careful what you wish for...
Try being funny & see if that helps.
You mean like wondering if the Chi-Coms went through all the regulatory hurdles to get all the appropriate permits and submitted an enviromental impact statement before beginning work? ;-)
I'm surprised the Chinese EPA approved such a use of the "World's" coral reefs? <sarc>
...or link something funny. Carlin is often relevant.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjmtSkl53h4
"careful what you wish for..."
Is your first name Hugh?
"Once again, junk with no argument. Log off ZH and turn on Fox News Assholes."
Debate is impossible with a cowardly, lyng name caller.....
Cool. When the Chinese "establish a beachhead," they literally build it from scratch.
Obviously, this looks like a project to demonstrate superior and lasting presence in the area by building prize real estate, with considerable military potential for use in local force projection. The main purpose of building so visibly is to be seen doing so, having the effect of changing the terms of future negotiations: "We're here; we aren't going anywhere; we've moved past simplistic counter-claims; let's talk about new agreements to mutual benefit." I don't know the tone of local relations, but sense that attempts to stir the pot (e.g., hired protestors) have met with limited success. I think this could be very constructive for local trading partners by removing ambiguity and underlining China's potential security role for local shipping. Opponents are bound to paint it as resembling the 1960s confrontation with Russia over Cuba, but it doesn't seem like that at all. It would be interesting to know what drives the timeline. Maybe "It's just time." Suppose the workers are being paid in RMB. Thanks to Tyler for an interesting side article.
Wow man what a chi-com fluffer you are. Impressive stroking skills.
Actually what we are witnessing is tyranny. Progressive chi-com criminals are stealing other people shit. It is what tyrannical progressive governments do.
The Chinese, as demonstrated by their own history, do nothing but kill millions of their own people. One despotic regime after another going farther back in history than almost any other. Kill or enslave, rinse repeat. Mao set the record, literal rivers of chinese blood flowed.
Now chi-com criminal despots have their eyes set on killing millions in other countries, not just their own.
A sad day for the world. Tyranny marches on.
Grimaldus
Excuse me, but switch a couple of labels, and you could be describing the USSA. I smell American military, or at least lower-middle-class upbringing in a flag-waving jarhead neighborhood. Do you have the slightest idea how many people have been killed by American troops just in the last decade? Do some research before you start stroking the Washington Monument (inside joke).
I also smell zero direct experience working with Chinese. They may be controlling, but they aren't psychopaths, unlike certain individuals and groups in positions of influence closer to your home. Rgds
Exactly. I'm guessing all the Global Warming advocates, Anti-Fracking clan, Wet Land water in the ditch types are all over this disaster also right?
Crickets.......
that makes me wonder...is this making the ocean levels rise or fall? Does Florida need to be worried? (i'm KIDDING)
They're just testing some anti island tipping technology to keep Hank Johnson off their jocks.
Just think...people like Hank are...the best we got. We voted them into orifice, and gave them permission to order us around.
Who the hell cares ? There is lots of reefs out there.
Yeah, lots. So it's OK if folks fuck up some. /sarc/
Down votes but no replies.... So you have no argument. Most of you have been so fucking brainwashed to think that anyone who wants to protect some part of nature is some socialist/progressive/lib, that you seem to have forgotten that the root of conservative, is conserve. You Fucking morons are the of the worst.
I don't know what you're like in person, but on ZH you come across as a pompous boor, wasting everyone's time. One of the great barriers to constructive, balanced discussion around legitimate environmental issues is the tendency for some participants to wrap themselves in a "Green" flag, losing the healthy sense of detachment and causing them to interpret any difference of opinion as a personal attack: "You're All Wrong." I suspect that this is a regular defense mechanism in your real life as well. There is also a tendency to shift focus from the forest onto favorite trees. The effect is to poison the discussion, driving others away. It's an important life lesson. Rgds
oceans will become dead zones too. sure they will mend over thousands of years after we are almost extinct. same with the land. humans are terminal. just a squat on the earth. and your god says what? multiply and spread the word. word meets word and then the big war. einstein was correct. post III, survivors will be back to using leftover fabricated devices of self destruction. cycle repeat, thousands of years to do-er-again...
No offense, but you've been soaking up a lot of garbage and need to do some mental housecleaning. If you're looking for the source of our trouble, look to the real division between normals and psychopaths as a kind of subspecies:
Political Ponerology: A Science on the Nature of Evil Adjusted for Political Purposes
At least, this suggests China is not an environmentalist and does not believe in Global Warming and sea-level rises. A couple of super typhoons and these structures will be new fish homes. Only arrogant idiots think they can beat nature because they have lots of fiat money.
does not believe
or
No fucks given?
Well, it IS China's and what they do with their land is their business.
Well, it IS China's and what they do with their land is their business.
I really don't care about what China does.
Meanwhile, Baghdad Cafe in Newberry Springs still gets thousands of tour buses each year on Route 66 from french idiots, Newberry Springs population numbers in the hundreds.
The cafe is a 'C'' rated shit hole. But it's still cool to go to.
Communists only protect the environment when that can be used as weapons against us.
Like Desert Tortoise? Yeah.
China could give to hoots about the enviorment.
Bellingcat is not what I would consider a remotely credible source.
http://sputniknews.com/analysis/20150220/1018513293.html
How credible can Bellingcat be if it rants about a country building an island in its own (allegedly at least) territorial waters when the US has over 1000 military bases around the world, in unequivacally foreign territories, and using them to conduct wars / invasions under false pretenses as well as killing civilians by the tens of thousands.
He works for by the US propaganda department. It nice work if you can get it.
What a poorly written article. A map showing the exact positions of these islands/reefs relative to the countries mentioned would have been handy.
Conclusion? Anyone? Anyone? Büller?
Oh wait, I know! Those are islands for Scaramanga and Nick-nack!
In one picture, this the reason the Spratly Islands are a controversial place for China to be relaiming reefs for... whatever.
And certain parts of the Spratly archipelago are claimed by no less than five different countries: Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, Taiwan and China.
THIS isn't going to end well. Let's get Lurch down there before things get out of hand and Walnuts McCain says something... unfortunate (again).
Agreed... Wouldn't want any random violence breaking out.
Compared to the "soverign" US bases in Europe, Japan, Korea, Australia, and the Middle East I can't say that China's claim to those Islands is really all that controversial.
It would be tragic if PHI's Vatican/American Vassal Types and their supporters to do something foolish enough to get the War Drums beating; and Team_CHN decides to invade PHI.
No way. I bet the Chinese have properly done all their environmental impact studies before dredging and burying the reefs alive. I bet Greenpeace and the Sierra Club have signed off on it, too.
I was kind of wondering about that. This is kind of like building a mountain by going into a forest with very tall trees and burying them up to the top in sand.
Mother nature is going to be plenty pissed, but the next clyclone should pretty much unbury the now-dead reef..
That's impressive.
It's the wormhole machine from Contact! Finally!
Well, maybe moar...
It's the future air-sea-land bases for fighting the War of the Worlds, no?
Chinese worship dragons...but not other reptiles.
House of Dragons rule?
Guess that answers the question of what China wanted all those commodities for.
A jackal? Is it a jackal?! A jackal! Its a jackal! a jackal! Its a Jackal! Is it a jackal?
Without my reading glasses the thumbnail pics looked like a dinosaur egg embryo.
Wow, they're growing godzilla that'll show the japanese.
I'd better go buy some more crap at Walmart. If the Chinese are building all that stuff, they will need more of my money.
Whoa whoa mr money bags. If I NEED to buy some Chinese shit, I go to the dollar store.
I go to the Plumbing Supply Warehoue and purchase Chinese Forged Steel Pipes as...AMERICA'S IRONWORKS ARE NOT PRODUCING SHIT ANYMORE.
It is a lot harder to sink and island than an aircraft carrier, isn't it?
Indeed. Midway Island proved that in June 1942 when the Japanese Carrier fleet was sunk attempting to take that Island. Though sunk by US Carrier Aircraft, the unsinkable island provided much needed support for the operation. Plus it's own strike forces that disrupted Japans fleet while the US Carriers moved in for the kill.
You don't need many carriers to defend your territories with all of these fresh islands. Really will embarass Neocons agressive posture in the East again.
Islands with runways and ports facilites are what are referred to as TARGETS by the US Navy and Air Force. If you know where it is, it's easy to attack and kill. Mobility is much better in combat than a fixed position. None of the Japanese held islands fared well in WWII versus carrier battle groups - none, to include Midway, which would have been destroyed if not for the US carriers that were nearby and knew the Japanes would attack.
The US gave up on Wake Island in WWII because all it would be, if held, was a bomb and shell magnet for passing Japanese carriers and battleships. This was before the Battle of Midway. Once the Japanese carriers were destroyed, there was no credible threat to any allied held island. On the flip side, the US Navy's carriers could, and did, attack any Japanese held island it liked at will at any time and from any direction.
Militarily, these islands are useful against the other countires that lay claim to them as they do not have carriers. More imporantly, they are political statments by China staking claim to the area and challenging anyone to knock them off their pedestal.
Just because you call it a target does it make it an effective one. Carriers and ships are a lot more dangerous than an island if you are on one. Try building a bunker in a carrier. Look up picture of missles pierciing British Carrier in the Falklands. Look up wake homing torpoedo. Carrier Navy has been obsolete for 10-20 years. The US should have switched to Sub based Navy just could not handle the politics.
Carriers may be vulnerable compared to submarines, but there's no way you can credibly argue that a small island is less vulnerable than a carrier. The reality is that a nuke can be delivered at least as easily if not more easily than some conventional warhead that can sink a carrier, and if you are hit with a nuke - doesn't matter small island or a ship. Even if it was a facility deep underground it would not have much of a practical advantage.
Maybe you are thinking of an adversary without nukes, but any party that fails to have nukes under their control, or within reach for when they might be needed, would be woefully lacking in foresight (as I fear some people may learn the hard way).
Speaking of which if Obama is allowing Iran to get Nuke Bombs, isn't that a sign that Israel is going to attack within a year or two?
I think I read that correctly. Obama agreeing that US Would not prevent Iran from getting the Nuk Bomb.
"Look up picture of missles pierciing British Carrier in the Falklands", no carriers were hit in the Falklands war, as they were out of range of the missiles and aircraft, although their picket ships were hit. But they were combatting submarines in that war, three modern ones were possessed by Argentina, one was damaged and captured, the others did nothing for the whole war.
The carrier is still a potent weapon, although too expensive for smaller nations to possess.
One thought though on these artificial islands, what happens when there is a tsunami? The first tidal wave that hits them will utterly destroy them, add to that the islands are unnatural and therefore nature will be slowly trying to remove them, if things heat up out there it will be interesting to see what happens.
The Chinese are screwed if the next war is a carbon copy of the War in the Pacific 1941 - 1945.
It won't be.
This is the twenty-first century.
Did I forget /sarc/ again?
How well do surface ships survive against the latest anti-shipping missiles again? I guess we'll find out if a carrier fleet can turn a heavily fortified, missile-supported island into a "bomb target".
It doesn't make a difference if it is a ship or an island if you can hit it with a nuke. Not even if the target is a few hundred feet underground.
And yet the US places the bulk of its Japanese force on Okinawa. Okinawans, who generally do not like the long term occupation of their island by foreigners, are all too aware that they will be ground zero (likely the first hit) in any major conflict between the US/Japan and China.
Which is also the reason that the Japanese refuse to lighten the burden on the Okinawans by relocating some of the forces on the main islands. At least China is not burdening a peaceful (talking about the former Ryukyu Kingdom) native population like the US.
I will add that the US had better be careful if it expects to continue to have any influence in Asia. The East Asians would rather have peace with China if being a US protectorate means being destroyed every 2-3 generations.
Progressives are in charge dude. Duh.
Grimaldus
Raibul was a fortified island in the south Pacific with about 100,000 Japanese soldiers on it during WW2. It would have taken the US marines months (and thousands of lives) if not years to clear the island.
General Macarthur, in a brilliant tactic, ignored a traditonal rule of military theory (never leaving a forfied town, enemy soldiers, castle in your rear)just simply bypassed it on the way to the Phillipines et al.
He knew that the Jap navy was diminished enough by then that they could not get to the island to use it as a base and the Jap planes stationed there could not reach the military theatre to the west.
Put some Yakhonts / Sunburn variants on those islands courtesy of new bff Russia and China will own that patch of ocean.
Not against a competent air force or cruise missile armed adversary which can attack from far outside these missiles' ranges. Immobile targets are dead targets in today;s battle space. You can plan against them and attack them at your leisure, that is, at the time and manner of tyour choosing. Or you can simply bypass them and make them irrelevant, as long as you destroy their strike elements, such as attack aircraft, bombers, and ships and submarines nased there. The safest place for military aircraft is in the air, and the safest place for military ships and submarines is at sea if the enemy has means to reach your airbase or port.
You make it sound as if an attacking force is expecting 0 casualties, which is a hilarious assumption.
Let's say that a carrier group approaches an island to attack it. The big difference between the two targets? You can re-pave a runway, you can't unsink a ship.
From a cost-benefit point of view, the island is easier to hold, and can force the enemy to lose more in the long run than they gain. The defending force always, ALWAYS has the edge in this regard.
Small nuke launched from far away -- no island.
You've a point - It'll be a shame to have PHI torched by Nukes. /sarc
CHN may position Nukes ON THE ISLAND, for that matter. Ever thought of that?
Once someone nukes a nuke stronghold, therego the reasons to use TacNukes across the Theatre...
...as long as Cities are untouched, many of us can rebuild and live on. Somehow, I don't think TEAM_USA is willing to lose its Cities or its Pacific Fleet for the sake of PHI, when they have free bases in AUS. "If" CHN takes PHI, do you think "Sanctions" will hurt CHN, or will it hurt the USA more?
Exactly. Islands are unsinkable repairable carriers. The y also don't need fuel, much maintenance or a crew. The Japanese islands fell only because we eliminated all their supporting navies and air forces. Ships still had to take large paths around well equipped islands with aircraft.
Whether an island is an easy target or not depends on how it fits into the larger overal defensive or offensive capabilities. They do not stand alone.
Why the hell would you have anyone fighting for this piece of land that can be returned to its natural submerged state with a nuke with much less effort than is required for its reclamation from the sea?
Wrong. When a ship sinks in shallow waters, such as those which comprise large areas of the seas in this region of the world, it can be re-floated, towed to dry-dock and repaired. Like most ships that were sank in the attack at Pearl Harbor and then returned to fight during the same war.
If nukes are involved, both can be equally obliterated.
Not with these islands. If it was a large island, or one inhabited by civilians, then that would deter some adversaries from obliterating it. In such case it may be easier to hold.
"Unsinkable aircraft carriers", some of them at least.
Years ago when Japan called their islands an unsinkable aircraft carrier the Soviets reminded them that nukes exist. They still do.
I guess the japs weren't as bright as they thought. They ended up nuking themselves.
Ahhh, they're used to it. Already nuked twice before...
Watch the slur, Asshole.
Of course, TSA and the DOD have been nuking American Citizens through their Pr0n Scanners and DU Rounds.
But, according to Congressional sources, Guam is actually in danger of capsizing.
They look like targets to me. And a reclaimed island wouldn't be the most stable place to put military equipment....
This is a smart strategic move from China. Previously, China has to send in their fighter jets from Hainan Island 1600km away from disputed South China Sea but the distance required mid-air re-fueling in order to fight efficiently. Now, China has created the largest island in South China Sea less than 200km from Philippine and Vietnam and they are ready to deployed their air force in the man-made island to strike both countries if they continue to incur into South China Sea.
Another glorious monument to greed and stupidity.......
Submarine bases to take out U.S. aircraft carriers. . .
You don't need a sub, there are mines that can be anchored to the ocean floor that release torpoedoes when a Carrier sound freq passes by.
Nah. In a real war with China, the US military won't send a single carrier to that region (assuming the naval commanders are of sound mind). I don't even think the US would fight a war with China in Asia again, at least not until China weakens sufficiently from within, like it did in the 1800s.
Presently the US doesn't stand a chance against China within the first and second island chains. Maneuverable supersonic anti-missiles fired from mobile launchers or dropped from the air will be more than enough to wipe out the entire US navy (with fewer than 300 major vessles). China is now known to have ASMs boasting Mach 4-5 terminal speed. US carriers and destroyers can't even handle Mach 2.5-3.5 Sunburns.
Not sure about US military response, but with the criminal progressives in charge on both sides lots of people will die.
I think your are right in that Chinese missile swarms could overpower US Navy carrier group defenses.
But don't forget that while the carriers are going down in flames the ring of US Navy submarines around China could be launching their own tomahawk cruise missile swarms. Very bad news for the Chinese.
Grimaldus
China's greed for territory knows no bounds. I had no idea things had got this bad. Obama should stop looting Ukraine and turf the Chicoms out of this Phillipine and Vietnamese territory. Oh, and while we're at it let's rename the joint the Sea of Vietnam. "South China Sea" gave them the wrong idea.
Well, the US has claimed all of the big islands...Japan, Philippines, Taiwan. With the stated US FP of surrounding and containing China, they have little choice but to extend their defense. The US would do the same. Russia is doing the same in Ukraine. North Korea exists for the same reason.
This article presents this as some surprising and secret acts when it seems to me to be wholly predictable and easily tracked evidenced by these satellite photos.
Of course in a cooling world , these 'islands' are only going to get bigger , aren't they?
See Chinese listen when the Q99X2 speaks. 2 years or so ago I said the Chinese should quit screwing around with those Japanese islands and build their own. Now they are doing what we said. Ok Ok Ok how bout this then. Jamie Dimon and Lloyd Blankfein should hold hands and walk off the top of the tallest building they can find as a means to make more money for themselves.
Let's see what happens.
China must be very bored ... landing areas for SpaceX boosters, maybe? Shrimp farms? Luxury hotels?
China just needs to keep making it wider and just take the Philippines and Vietnam. Just a matter of time.
And Wall Street has pushed US corporations to outsource it's manufacturing and technology to China.
Thanks CIA.
I wouldn't want to be there when a typhoon comes in
Will a nuclear detonation on one of those islands be atributable to any one other than China?
Be kinda funny to light up one of their new military islands and then berate them mercilessly at the UN for 'being so careless with their ordinance!'
World opinion? Who is gonna argue with who about what?
Might be some probems getting tupperware and iPhones delivered for a while though.
...& somebody probably ( Coast Guard? Longshoremen Union? ) gets a new high risk job opening shipping containers way out at sea and inspecting everything before it comes into port in California...
Doubt that would work for a great number or reasons. It would also be quite stupid as the Chinese could detonate a nuke over say, Pearl Harbor, and say how careless the US was.
Then again, just because it's stupid is not really an impediment to being enacted, I guess.
It's one of those Google barges.
After Google street-view, comes Google ocean view?
They are being built so they can drill for oil.
A big floating dick?
These 8 properties are simply being developed to be the ultimate bug-out locations for when the shit really hits the big fan. Bet it's a real tranquil, quiet place to live.
Walmart.
not that fast. McDonald's or KFC first, if any; though I'd build some super-expensive resorts and cater to the super-rich (billionaires) from around the world. $50,000 per person per day. Pedophiles from the Vatican or the Bilderberg group pay 1000 times more plus 500 Mil security deposit.
how 'bout that?
If you build it - people will come.
Casino
..and Scuba/Watersport Resort - along with PLA-Offshore Banking.
Alternative to Macau/HKG - low crime due to PLA Guards all over the place (doing part-time gigs at the Casino).
Looks like nuclear containment to me, except for the windows.
Vonnegut was not totally right about the Chinese, but he wasn't totally wrong, either.
Instead of pulling a Steve Martin and getting small, they're getting big.
The chinese are full of surprises.
If you don't occupy it you don't own it.
It is a very simple policy learned from the America west during 1750's.
Squatters rights, if you live there and have history you own it.
If you have guns and those you are fighting for possession only have bows and arrows, you also own it.
The efforts to grow land on these reefs could only involve one of a few possibilities:
1. A commercial development. For what purpose would the Chinese construct a commercial enterprise, on "land" that doesn't even exist, when there are many more benefits in luring investors or customers to the mainland? And with all of the excess manufacturing capacity there, what sense would commerical development make if the "land" itself had to be created first? None.
2. Some sort of important resource is to be found there, and China needs infrastructure to harvest it. Unlikely. With technology, such as that used in the photographs, and advances in oceanography, geology, and geophysics, its hard to see how China could be preparing to harvest something the First World didn't already know about (such as oil or gas reserves, or some important mineral deposit).
3. Military asset development. That they already see even small contingents of their military located on the tiny areas so-far reclaimed as important, it seems highly likely that any ground being created is for the purpose of growing military capability in that important body of ocean.
Why?
To be in a position to take action on claimed Chinese territory in the South China Sea.
That's much easier to do on-location, rather than rely on mainland-delivered force only. There really isn't such a thing as a Chinese blue water navy, and they lack the capacity, technology, and experience to build and deploy a carrier fleet. When or if they do begin to construct such assets, look out. Ditto for Russia. In the meantime, it seems they stick to what they know well: ground force installations. Hence, they need ground in a future theater of operation.
The Chinese, like the Russians, want, above all else, to be respected and to be forces to be reckoned with. Military power, not just economic power (which is seriously waning in the BRICS), has always made the difference in that quest.
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China wanted to call the islands 'Landing Strip One" but Cameron threatened to take Beijing to the International Copyright Court if they do.
They know a "shovel-ready" project when they see it.
Puzzling.
My theory is that the People's Liberation Army (PLA) is essentially a parallel government that imagines that it's domain is all things that are militarily relevant.
It's typical bureuacrat behavior to grow the institution's domain, so this is just a bunch of nostalgic, old-time militarly crocks making some frontier islands militarily relevant and growing their bureacratic empires.
It's hard to see how these marginal specks of land could be militarily relevant or defensible in the era of stealth bombers and submarine launched tomahawk missiles.
Probably PLA General Long Big Dong's son-in-law needed a military command to advance his career, so he gets to be Military Commandant of a rock with a missile battery in the South China Sea.
I agree. However, I would add my speculation that those bureaucrats fancy their creations as things that may one day become a part of some sort of a private enterprise that they may be in a good position to found, participate in or at least profit from.
Perhaps the corporation would be called... General Dongs?
I understand that the PLA has many profitible business activities.
When Chinese political players speechify against "corruption", they are probably hinting at things involving the PLA and high level officials.
In a system of institutionalized deception and theft any socially productive activity is "corruption".
The south China sea has oil, maybe more that saudia arabia.
China's southern island "Hainan" is a very large military naval operation base and currently there is a large amount of oil that goes through the south china sea making the area a national security zone.
Amerika can not be trusted!
Yes, there is probably oil involved, but I have been told that it is Chinese philosphy to use other peoples oil first, and save their own oil reserves for the future. It would seem to me that in the age of fracking and a world wide oil glut, off shore oil reserves for China are less urgent.
And yes, Hainan may be the center of large military assets and China may be upgrading it's navy, but it's not clear who China regards as a military threat and why.
I heard a commentator assert recently that the largest deployment of Russian troops is not in the area of the Ukraine, but along the far eastern border with China.
For all the happy talk about improving relations between Russia and China, it appers the Russia is still wary of China.
And the commentator making that denialist-friendly comment was who?
link please :o)
A guest on the John Batchelor Radio Program.
There are summaries of his programs on his web site and the podcasts of the complete program can be downloaded.
Too much content to sift through.
Sun Tzu, the renown Chinese strategist and philosopher (not the Chippendale dancer) famously said: "All warfare is based on deception."
Whereas the armies of all nations are aware of this, the PLA has a greater belief in the writings of their famous general 2500 years ago.
Not long after WWII ended warfare (Korea) broke out between the US on one side and China and Russia on the other. If Sun Tzu were at the head of the Chinese/Russian alliance how would he present this alliance to the world? As brothers joined at the hip like the US and the UK or like a pair of feuding crows? Squabbling over the meaning of some policy like a piece of waxed paper that a cheese burger had been wrapped in.
It's hard to believe how many intelligent people bought Sun Tzu's squabbling crows act. But given how screwed up America's foreign policy is, has been, and will continue to be -- except if you're in denial -- you won't be shocked to learn that the Chinese and Russian's have been putting us on.
Looks like some kind of Dr. No setup.
Chinese bases in the Spratlys.
Also known as targets.
Targets? Not Walmarts?
I'd build some ultra-luxurious Hiltons and the likes. 50K per person per day, with Discount rides aboard nuclear attack subs / boomers / Su-30MKKs / J-20s. For 500M more, live fire target practice using Sunburns / Yaks on US frigates / destroyers in the Philippines and Japan.
It is just symbolic. The big kid on the block has to show the claimants that it will not let the enfeebled US bases have the last word. Enfeebled bases are the weak tentacles of a crumbling Empire where the core is mired in debts.
Almost half the battle is won in this patch where the claimants are increasingly dependent economically on the Big Kid around. These claimants (the smarter noes) are waffling between a Big Talker miles away and their present day realities.
Pretensions in holding on to past glories are poked at by the long term player (Big Kid) who know that these miniscule out dated infrastructures are irrelevant in today's modern warfare. They have to up the ante and irritate. Upto the Pretentious Empire to bleed more with their Asian Pivot (LOL).
BTW on Taiwan - These are Chinese. Really that they will engage each other in combat apart from some shouts from time to time in this day and age.
Very similar to the assessment of a Taiwanese-American bussinessman I know.
What is the Chinese for 'Diego Garcia'?
Cuba or England, I think.
So China is creating the perfect target for tactical nukes. Small, isolated island with only military infrastructure. noone would go MAD over losing these islands, or similar around the world.
Who else has nukes in the region?
Who has the navy to threaten chinese navy in south china sea?
Naval war in 3-2-1..
I always wondered where they landed MH370.
What pisses me off the most is how they ruin these wonderful reefs..
Typical retard chinese, ruin everything that is nice! Build some concrete blocks and a damn highway on that thing! made in china
disgusting
Typical American.
Consume all the local resources, clearcut your own forests, concrete over natural wonders to build malls, car parks and 8 lane highways. Import resources from the rest of the world then bitch and whine how the Chinese have ruined some reefs or how Brazil is ruining the "lungs of the world" by cutting down rainforest.
printouts of all of ZH's moronic posts since 2008. I knew there'd be a value to this site eventually.
Its condos and the South China Sea's largest mall! Condos and the South China Sea's largest mall!! What did I win?
Good for China. Shame she didn't move earlier to establish what belongs to her, but better late than never. And now Westerners can see how true superpower behaves: she builds her own islands, doesn't steal from others! Lesson to be learned here. :)
How did those neighbouring countries allow that factory of degenerations called the Britain to attain so many islands so far from her "birthplace" northwest of France, hm? That's really mind-boggling. If I am not mistaken, and I don't think I am, Diego Garcia had native inhabitants (doesn't have now; so there is another count in a long list of British genocides to be added) which Britain forced out from their home, and then the island was given to USSA. There are also other such examples like Falklands, Gibraltar and Akrotiri and Dhekelia in Cyprus. Mind-boggling.