RationalPolicy
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Stunning new pictures show the scope of Chinese building in the South China Sea - Washington Post
BEIJING — Sometimes you’ve got to see it to truly believe it. That is certainly true of a remarkable set of pictures published by a Philippine newspaper this week.
We all know that China has been building up these 'reefs' in the South China Sea for a long time now, and has blatantly ignored international law while doing so, but these fantastic images show the rapid progress they've made. These are looking like functional military installations already. What should our strategy going forward here be?
To me, we need to strongly partner with our allies in the region, like Japan, South Korea, and the Philippines, and other potential allies, like Vietnam, to push back on these illegal installations. Freedom of Navigation Exercises are a must, as are pushing our friends to assert their clear territorial claims. Beyond that, I'm not sure what else we can do, as the Chinese clearly have the force projection advantage here. Any thoughts?
BEIJING — Sometimes you’ve got to see it to truly believe it. That is certainly true of a remarkable set of pictures published by a Philippine newspaper this week.
For years now, we’ve read about Chinese land reclamation and building in the contested waters of the South China Sea — construction that has put Beijing at odds with many of its Asian neighbors, as well as the United States.
Subi reef. (Photo courtesy of Inquirer.net/Philippine Daily Inquirer)
In 2016, an international tribunal ruled that China’s expansive maritime claims had no legal basis. But Beijing kept building, insisting repeatedly that it was all for civilian, not military, purposes.
Few outside China buy that. Foreign experts, most notably the people at the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative, were left to scour grainy satellite images for proof. Finally, we have better pictures.
We all know that China has been building up these 'reefs' in the South China Sea for a long time now, and has blatantly ignored international law while doing so, but these fantastic images show the rapid progress they've made. These are looking like functional military installations already. What should our strategy going forward here be?
To me, we need to strongly partner with our allies in the region, like Japan, South Korea, and the Philippines, and other potential allies, like Vietnam, to push back on these illegal installations. Freedom of Navigation Exercises are a must, as are pushing our friends to assert their clear territorial claims. Beyond that, I'm not sure what else we can do, as the Chinese clearly have the force projection advantage here. Any thoughts?