PLAN SCS Bases/Islands/Vessels (Not a Strategy Page)

delft

Brigadier
I wonder when will most (95%) PRC Chinese government officials and PRC Chinese Scientists can catch up with the global top standard in terms of Environmental Awareness and know how ??

Most of PRC Chinese Scientists and government officials are still very backward in terms of working harmoniously with nature.

I wonder ... ...
When will PRC Chinese Scientists start extensively planting Mangrove trees in the perimeter of all islands to protect all those islands from Tsunami, and help Mangrove forests do their natural land reclamation power by methodically adding sands on the inner perimeter of the Mangrove forests, thus they can enlarge all the islands exponentially 24x365 with the help of mother nature ??

A technical question:
Doesn't mangroves need more sedimentation than is available at the islands?
 

solarz

Brigadier
I'm trying to find out. And also I do want to know. Perhaps someone else can answer the question.

Mangroves, like all trees, require nutrients to grow. In their natural environments, this comes from sediments getting washed to the sea by rain and storms. Mangrove roots trap these sediments and provide protection against natural erosion.

This of course, assumes that we're talking about the coast of a large land mass, not a tiny island. Small islands tend to be poor in nutrients, and this would be doubly so for man-made islands.

Could mangroves provide natural protection against erosion? Sure, if you had a forest of them. Seedlings? Not so much. Do mangroves "naturally enlarge" the islands? I'm pretty sure that's patently nonsense.

Furthermore, I'm sure real estate is at a high premium on those islands. Would it make sense to dedicate huge tracts of usable land to a mangrove forest?
 

delft

Brigadier
Mangroves, like all trees, require nutrients to grow. In their natural environments, this comes from sediments getting washed to the sea by rain and storms. Mangrove roots trap these sediments and provide protection against natural erosion.

This of course, assumes that we're talking about the coast of a large land mass, not a tiny island. Small islands tend to be poor in nutrients, and this would be doubly so for man-made islands.

Could mangroves provide natural protection against erosion? Sure, if you had a forest of them. Seedlings? Not so much. Do mangroves "naturally enlarge" the islands? I'm pretty sure that's patently nonsense.

Furthermore, I'm sure real estate is at a high premium on those islands. Would it make sense to dedicate huge tracts of usable land to a mangrove forest?
Thank you. That is what I suspected. ;)
 

joshuatree

Captain
Do mangroves "naturally enlarge" the islands? I'm pretty sure that's patently nonsense.

Indirectly they do if the conditions are right I believe. As you say, they trap sediments being washed from land to sea. But as you pointed, the issue here is that there is very little land for any sediments to be washed towards any mangroves.

I think what they should so instead is now focus on encouraging and growing new coral reefs instead. That will provide natural protection from the open waters as well as counter the environmental degradation done. There's enough land created now to provide security, there's no need for a metropolis.
 

solarz

Brigadier
Indirectly they do if the conditions are right I believe. As you say, they trap sediments being washed from land to sea. But as you pointed, the issue here is that there is very little land for any sediments to be washed towards any mangroves.

I think what they should so instead is now focus on encouraging and growing new coral reefs instead. That will provide natural protection from the open waters as well as counter the environmental degradation done. There's enough land created now to provide security, there's no need for a metropolis.

Yup, exactly!

Growing new coral reefs would be an excellent endeavour. They could scuttle some decommissioned ships around the reclaimed islands, or better yet, drop some cement structures.

The key to a healthy reef is keeping it free of pollution/contamination, and keeping fishing activities at a sustainable level. Those would be the two main challenges for protecting the environment there.
 
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ahojunk

Senior Member
Pictures of the PLA cultural and arts troupe performance, this time on Huayang Island.
After their May Day performances at Yongshu (Fiery Cross), they performed at Huayang (Cuateron) Island.

May-2016-show.Huayang.(1).jpg
Show at Huayang.

May-2016-show.Huayang.(2).jpg
Show audience at Huayang.

May-2016-show.Huayang.(3).jpg
Show at Huayang. Two lighthouses in the background.

May-2016-show.Huayang.(5).jpg
Show at Huayang.

May-2016-show.Huayang.(8).jpg
Show at Huayang.

May-2016-show.Huayang.(9).jpg
Show at Huayang.
 

Hendrik_2000

Lieutenant General
Top Chinese singer tours disputed South China Sea islands
AFP 8 hours ago
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A construction worker at the event told the paper life on the reef "definitely isn't easy, but our nation remembers us", adding that the performance was "a type of respect to the workers, to us as individuals".
One of China's top folk singers is rocking her away across disputed territory in the South China Sea, serenading hundreds of troops and construction workers stationed there, Chinese media reported on Thursday.

Song Zuying, who has performed with the likes of Canadian superstar Celine Dion, is part of an all-singing, all-dancing People's Liberation Army (PLA) entertainment tour of the Spratly Islands, reports said.

Footage of the troupe's performance broadcast on Chinese state television was the first to show the progress of construction on Fiery Cross Reef, one of the artificial islands China has built on outcrops also claimed by the Philippines, according to the Global Times.

"Buildings, roads, and lighthouses are beginning to take shape", it said.

Pictures showed Song in uniform, microphone in hand, surrounded by hard-hatted workers on one side and military personnel on the other.

The singer, who is said to hold the rank of rear admiral in the PLA, often appears in the country's New Year gala, considered the most watched television programme in the world.

The Fiery Cross project was one of several by China that have raised tensions in the region, with Washington sending ships and planes into nearby waters and airspace in an attempt to counter what it has described as a threat to freedom of navigation.

Facilities on the island include runways capable of accommodating military aircraft, one of which landed on the reef in April, ostensibly to aid ailing construction staff.

China will shortly carry out annual naval combat drills in the area, Xinhua reported separately, as well as the eastern Indian Ocean and western Pacific, with three vessels leaving port on Wednesday to join the exercises.

The musical show by the 50 member troupe was the first of two in the Spratlys, according to an article in the state-owned China Youth Daily.

The performers arrived at the venue after a 40-hour trip aboard China's second-largest naval vessel, the Kunlun Shan, it said.

A construction worker at the event told the paper life on the reef "definitely isn't easy, but our nation remembers us", adding that the performance was "a type of respect to the workers, to us as individuals".
 

jkliz

Junior Member
Registered Member
I hope the Chinese government actually pays those workers a fair pension or wage for their services and not treat them badly like they did with the veterans of the Sino Vietnam War.
 
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