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

The ways to create animosity & tensions among nations and among people are to hurl insults & unplesantries. I strongly recommend the OWL approach i.e. being sensible in settling problems & disagreements in the South China Sea disputes. The Hawk & Dove approaches can never solve problems. Why? a Hawk approach is boisterous & despised, and & a Dove is considered timid & can be bullied. So, why don't the China & ASEAN sit down and implement an effective "Code of Conduct" which has been talked about for several years, but without making headway? Seriously, China has done well in launching the AIIB, & can also be magnanimous in other conflicting areas i.e. East & South China Sea.

New images show China building military facilities in South China Sea




JUNE 28, 2015 - Fiery Cross Reef - 2,740,000 sq meters. (CSIS Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative/Digital Globe)

Land reclamation is now complete at Fiery Cross Reef. AMTI says construction of the air base is continuing “with ongoing paving and marking of the airstrip, an added apron, construction of a sensor array and development of additional support facilities.”


JUNE 28, 2015 - Fiery Cross Reef (CSIS Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative / DigitalGlobe)

This image also shows a naval vessel docked at the island.


JUNE 28, 2015 - Fiery Cross Reef . (CSIS Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative / DigitalGlobe)

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Images at Johnson South Reef show what looks like a significant military monitoring station.


JUNE 10, 2015 - Johnson South Reef - 109,000 sq meters
(CSIS Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative / DigitalGlobe)

According to AMTI, features here include: a small port with limited berth space and two loading stations, two helipads, three possible satellite communication antennae, one large multi-level facility, two possible radar towers under construction, six possible security and surveillance towers for weapons and or sensors, four possible weapons towers, a lighthouse, a possible solar farm with 44 panels and two wind turbines.

More photos:

nfgc said:

Using history as evidence would be analogous to Italy producing a map of the Roman Empire in AD96, claiming the Isle of Man, sending coast guard vessels to said location, and beginning construction.

A Spanish funded Italian happened upon the Western Hemisphere, but Spain does not claim Honduras.

Leif Erikson landed in what is now Canada, but Iceland does not claim Newfoundland.

Scores of such examples could be made.

Click to expand...

While that is true, lets not forget that it had been used multiple times,

Like the Norman invasion of England 1066, The English invasion of France 1337, 15+ crusades, The US invasion of Canada, the many french/prussian/austrian/hungarian/italian/spanish wars. and the many roman/bazantine vs persia wars

Likewise, the flip side is true, Greek/Roman style pacifist wars like, the Carthage threat leading to 3x punic war against 2x peace treaties, to the US invasion of Panama or the MAD claims against Iraq. etc.

If history is our guide, then it tells us that law/treaties/history means little, when one have a big enough stick.

Reclamation on some islands are complete. Now the start of building of facilities...
Nansha Islands = Spratly Islands
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2015-07-01 08:08 | Global Times | Editor: Li Yan

The Chinese government said on Tuesday that it has completed some of its land reclamation work in the Nansha Islands in the South China Sea and will now start building facilities on the reclaimed land to fulfill its functional requirements.

Hua Chunying, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said on Tuesday at a daily press briefing that land reclamation efforts on some of the islands and reefs of the Nansha Islands have been completed as scheduled.

"In the next stage, China will start the building of facilities to meet relevant functional requirements," she said.

The facilities, which will mainly provide various civilian services, will enable China to better perform its international obligations and responsibilities in areas such as maritime search and rescue, disaster prevention and mitigation, marine scientific research, meteorological observation, ecological conservation, navigation safety as well as fishery production services, Hua said. Necessary military defense requirements will also be fulfilled, she added.

China's construction work in the Nansha Islands has drawn criticism from several countries, including the US, which has called for a halt to the project and repeatedly voiced concerns about the country's future plans for more construction work, including for military purposes.

A US anti-submarine and maritime surveillance aircraft, with CNN reporters on board, flew over waters near China's Nansha Islands in May.

Rear Admiral Guan Youfei of China's defense ministry on June 15 urged the US to halt its increasing aerial surveillance of the region.

China has reiterated that its construction work in the region aims to provide civilian benefits and fulfill its international obligations.

Lezt said:

Like the Norman invasion of England 1066, The English invasion of France 1337, 15+ crusades, The US invasion of Canada, the many french/prussian/austrian/hungarian/italian/spanish wars. and the many roman/bazantine vs persia wars.

Click to expand...

France (Normans) does not claim England as its territory 950 years later.

England does not claim France as its territory 668 years later.

The US does not claim Canada, Italy nor Turkey do not claim Iran, and so on.

nfgc said:

Using history as evidence would be analogous to Italy producing a map of the Roman Empire in AD96, claiming the Isle of Man, sending coast guard vessels to said location, and beginning construction.

A Spanish funded Italian happened upon the Western Hemisphere, but Spain does not claim Honduras.

Leif Erikson landed in what is now Canada, but Iceland does not claim Newfoundland.

Scores of such examples could be made.

Click to expand...

A few bad examples does nothing to contradict the fact that for uninhabited island, peaceful ownership acquisition has always been established by discovery, and for that, we need, you guessed it, history, to decide.

All of your examples involve people trying to forcibly take over territory someone else already inhabits.

Its two completely different things.

Spectacular reporting from their China correspondent. He basically sails close to Subi Reef on what is literally a bunch of planks strapped to a boat engine

ahojunk said:

Reclamation on some islands are complete. Now the start of building of facilities...

Click to expand...

Does that mean that reclamation ( what an odd word in this context ) is only ended on some islands and will it now begin on others? I don't think it is considered necessary but I just don't know.

plawolf said:

A few bad examples does nothing to contradict the fact that for uninhabited island, peaceful ownership acquisition has always been established by discovery, and for that, we need, you guessed it, history, to decide.

All of your examples involve people trying to forcibly take over territory someone else already inhabits.

Its two completely different things.

Click to expand...

Nicely stated, Wolf, and I agree on principles. Back to the Spratlys, and for better focus, let's just stick to the land part of the issue for now.

What exactly are China's claims in the Spratlys? Has Beijing officially announced it owns all, some, or none of the land and features? If China says it owns all of the land/features, how will it enforce its claims? Will it be with gunboats, bilateral strong-arming, or through the International Court of Justice? If China is successful with the ICJ, why should other claimants follow verdicts they don't like, when China refuses to meet Philippines in the ICJ now? What happens to the current occupants? If they refuse to leave, how will China evict the people and soldiers living there?

That's just some of the issues to settle, and we haven't even looked at fishery, sea bed minerals, and energy resource arguments. And then there's the waters of SCS...