Construction of artificial islands
Small islands
Located in the middle of the south china sea.
But the strange thing is, that just
A few years ago, none of these islands existed. Before we get to how China is secretly expanding its territory, we need to understand the conflict in the region.
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. The sea is surrounded by the Gulf of Thailand to the west, Borneo to the south and the Philippines to the west
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.
These zones determine the areas where a nation has sovereign rights over the natural resources below the sea’s surface. The zone extends for 200 miles off a nation’s coast, but anything beyond that point is considered international waters. Many countries have their own EEZ in the sea, including Indonesia and Vietnam. China has repeatedly broken these rules by encroaching on other nations’ zones. 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. The military troops stationed on the islands would allow the nation to keep watch for nuclear missile submarines. Plus, these troops could protect China from a potential attack on the mainland.
China also uses the sea to transport millions of tons of goods, which is vital to international trade. In total, a third of the global sea trade passes through this region each year. The sea also holds a significant population of fish, with over 3.7 million people employed as fishermen on the waters. Compared to other fishing areas in Asia, significantly more fish is caught in the South China Sea. But the biggest point of controversy is the distribution of natural resources and marine minerals. For example, there is still an estimated amount of 190 trillion cubic feet of natural gas in the region, which compared to other areas in the world definitely isn’t the largest in absolute number. 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. However, the country continues to rely on history to back up their ownership, including with the unofficial demarcation of the “nine-dash line.” The line was originally an eleven-dash line formed in 1947 by Yang Huairen, a Chinese geographer. He drew a U-shaped line to separate the territory into two areas: one owned by China and the other owned by the neighboring countries. The line eventually turned into nine dashes instead of eleven, but never became legally binding. 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. Located just above Malaysia, between the Philippines and Vietnam, all three of these countries, along with China, believe that they are the rightful owners of at least part of the islands. Most of these nations want to extend their territory and perhaps their EEZ, which would only be possible through formal ownership.
Vietnam and Malaysia have both tried to submit claims to the United Nations to extend their EEZ farther than the 200 mile limit in order to have legal rights over a portion of the islands, but China has repeatedly protested these motions. Vietnam, China, and the Philippines have all built military facilities on the islands to exert their power, but 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.
The nation began to militarize the islands
Despite previous international agreements.
In 2013, China started to take it way too far by building their own artificial islands in the South China Sea. Countries across the globe have shown their disapproval for this project, but the nation has continued to build on the water. Unfortunately for China, the islands have recently become unstable and are sinking into the sea. Surrounding countries were not too worried when China first started constructing these islands.
The nation built seven islands near the Spratly Islands in 2016 and expanded into the Paracel Islands in 2017. The project only attracted international attention once China began to secretly build functional air and naval bases on the land. They also developed radar facilities and underground storage structures to hold weaponry. 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. This can be anything from land, rocks, or coral reefs. In order for the islands to be strong enough to hold buildings and military bases, the construction workers dredge up additional sand from the ocean floor through a system of tubes. The tubes carry the sand from the floor and stack it on top of the original formation.
When that structure is strong enough, cement is placed on top of the sand in order to create a flat foundation for new buildings. The process is extremely harmful to marine life, since it alters the sand on the ocean floor that sea creatures depend on. Dredging can also bring harmful and even toxic organisms into the oceans, ultimately destroying the ecosystems. 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. The infrastructure has completely deteriorated through time due to the tropical, humid climate. The foundations have cracked underneath the pressure of the buildings on top, which has caused some of the islands to begin sinking into the sea. This will make it nearly impossible for the already weakened islands to survive typhoon season.
But China is not the only nation who is trying to secretly expand its territory. Beginning in 2015, Vietnam has been working on 10 new islands in the South China Sea. But when compared in acres, China has artificially built 20 times the amount of land. The Vietnamese government claims that their choice to build their own islands is purely for self-defense and not to wage a war in any way. They hope that this construction will show that Vietnam still wants some sort of autonomy over part of the South China Sea. This could potentially encourage the Chinese government to stop expanding into other nations’ exclusive economic zones. Plus, by having people eventually live on these artificial islands, Vietnam wants to make it harder for China to capture them.