PLAN SCS Bases/Islands/Vessels (Not a Strategy Page)
- Thread starter lilzz
- Start date
antiterror13
Brigadier
do you think China will stop there?, it seems to me the island can be expanded further
plawolf
Lieutenant General
Even China's resources and capabilities are finite.
I doubt they will make any more major islands for a while, and will instead focus on building and developing the new islands they have just created.
Once those islands had been fully developed and manned, then they might look to the remaining ones.
But to be honest, I don't think Beijing will undertake any more major reclamation work unless provoked.
That is a major reason for keeping those islands as is, as leverage. In effect, China is saying, look what we could do if we wanted. Best play nice.
That's probably a much more powerful disincentive for others to make trouble than if China did develop those islands into major military outposts (after all, everyone knows China won't shoot first, despite what they say in front of the western media, so a big Chinese military base isn't all that threatening unless things get so bad war looks like a real possibility).
Sometimes the threat of something can be worse than the actual thing.
joshuatree
Captain
Small extension looks like a service pathway to two tower like structures. Light houses? Or sensors? Or good old fashion watch towers to peer over to the neighbors?
lcloo
Captain
I noticed that whenever there is a provocation, China will give back something large in return. Case (1) - after Japan "nationalised" Diao Yu island, China quickly built up CCG force and put their ships on regular patrols around the island. Case (2) After Vietnam started to reclaimed lands on SCS islands, we see these mega land reclaims in action.
Obviously China had these plans some years ago and only waiting for someone to make a provocative move. The availability of large numbers of sand diggers ships and blue print of islands and various facilities on them do not simply appear in short notice
Obviously China had these plans some years ago and only waiting for someone to make a provocative move. The availability of large numbers of sand diggers ships and blue print of islands and various facilities on them do not simply appear in short notice
The towers are channel markers for night navigation.
joshuatree
Captain
Channel markers on the southwest side of the island and still well within the reefs while the actual channels are on the northeast and northwest side of the island? Unless you mean warning markers? But that's where I suggested lighthouses.
@joshuatree
I am not sure whether they are lighthouses or towers. Can you tell from the enlarge picture?
See the four towers on the sides of the channel coming in? They are navigation lights - the ones on the port side going in are red and on the right side green. With respect to the two towers, get a straight edge and see that the line up with the middle of the channel. So for a ship coming in, if he can only seen one tower light, then he is coming down the middle of the channel. Note that they piled rocks in front of the channel lights - they don't want ships knocking them over.