The Fiery Cross Reef, 2,740,000 square meters. (CSIS Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative/DigitalGlobe) New images taken just this week show China building what look like military bases on reclaimed land in the South China Sea, a development likely to add to concerns in the United States and among its Asian neighbors. China said on Tuesday that land reclamation had now finished on "some islands" in the South China Sea. But the focus is now likely to shift to the construction work that China is carrying out, which many fear will lead to further militarization of the South China Sea. Images taken as recently as June 28 show how China has almost completed the construction of an airstrip at Fiery Cross Reef. The images were taken by DigitalGlobe and supplied to The Post by the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative (AMTI) at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. 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.” See our full package of images showing China's land reclamation and construction activity here. AMTI Director Mira Rapp-Hooper says the facilities have “all the trappings” of military capabilities and applications and would improve China’s ability to monitor other nations’ activities in the disputed Spratly Islands. The construction work, she says, “is going to be the new diplomatic challenge, not just for the United States, but also for all the regional countries which have been very keen to deter China from militarizing the islands.” On June 16, China’s Foreign Ministry announced that the land reclamation work on some islands in the South China Sea would be completed in the near future and that it would now begin to build more infrastructure on the islands. On Tuesday, it confirmed the land reclamation “on some islands” was now complete. It says that infrastructure will mainly be for civilian purposes but acknowledges it will also be used for “military defense.” That does not reflect a change in policy but simply an acknowledgement of the fact that the project to stake China’s territorial claims in the South China Sea more forcefully had moved onto a new phase, experts say. Although AMTI says land reclamation does appear to have finished on five of the seven islands, other images taken between June 5 and 10 – and available on the AMTI Web site — show reclamation work still continuing on two islands, Mischief Reef and Subi Reef. China claims almost the entire South China Sea but faces rival claims from Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan. Beijing says it is merely playing catch-up to other claimants that have established bases on other islands and reefs in the past, but the United States says it fears China will use its new facilities to bully smaller nations. Last week, Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken said China’s actions in the South China Sea pose a “threat to peace and stability” and compared them to Russia’s in Ukraine. Both, he said, were “efforts to unilaterally and coercively change the status quo — transgressions that the United States and our allies stand united against.” Russia has seized the Crimean peninsula from Ukraine and sent in troops to support a civil war in eastern Ukraine that has left thousands of people dead. On Saturday, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said changing position on China's claims over the South China Sea would shame its ancestors, while not facing up to infringements of Chinese sovereignty there that would shame its children. "One thousand years ago China was a large sea-faring nation. So of course China was the first country to discover, use and administer the Nansha Islands," Wang said, using the Chinese term for the Spratly Islands. "China's demands of sovereignty over the Nansha Islands have not expanded and neither will they shrink. Otherwise we would not be able to face our forefathers and ancestors," he said, according to Reuters. Wang said China could not face its children and grandchildren if "the gradual and incremental invasion of China's sovereignty and encroachment on China's interests" was allowed to continue.
I'll take China to start WW3 for a 1000 Alex. China's economy is tanking fast, they have no resources, way too many people and the largest military in the world. There's nothing and no one to stop them from taking anything they want in Asia.
Keeping China bottled up is a pipe dream. The question is whether their emergence as a Superpower is handled appropriately or whether the tensions it creates are allowed to threaten the peace. WWII was a long time ago. Expecting the conditions it left to remain the status quo is insane. I don't know what the right answer is but expecting the Pax Americana to hold is an unrealistic view.
This has been said forever but what'll happen when they ask the US to pay them? Sent from my LG-LS720 using Tapatalk
we do pay them regularly. they can't just demand all the money loaned to us at once because that's not how loans work. would your mortgage company suddenly demand full payment 5 years into a mortgage? even in the unrealistic scenario where they did demand all the money at once they would get a bunch of money worth a lot less since we'd just print it so that would be foolish of them. that's not even getting into the massive impact that would have on the global markets.
gotta admit what they are doing is kinda crazy; as in building these islands in deep waters. You're right, no one is going to stop them. The U.S will annoy but China will continue to build.
If they want money for those bonds, they can sell them to other investors for a discount. The safest investment in the world for a discount? They would be many many bids.
Living in "China's Renegade Province" I can tell you these bastards are really fucking with everyone around them. They are pushing the Japanese for the islands near Okinawa that are very clearly Japanese. They are fucking with the Philippines over islands that clearly belong to the Philippines, they are pushing Vietnam around to the point that the Vietnamese are asking the US for help and they are even fucking with fucking Brunei..... yes Brunei which is part of Boreno some 1500 miles south of mainland China. Japan is close to restarting their military because of China. The Philippines has asked the US to come back and open a base (which I believe is happening) and Japan and now the Philippines are doing military exercises together in the South China Sea. Taiwan and the Philippines have some type of gentleman's agreement from what I've been told that they share the fishing grounds between Taiwan and northern Luzon and Australia has provided the Filipino Navy with war ships.
The Chinese roll over their debt like just about everybody else. That's because historically US debt has been risk-free. It'll be interesting to see what happens at the treasury sales if that assurance is removed somehow. All the Chinese have to do is not buy our bills and bonds and then they're redeeming a lot at each missed auction.
United States should own and control the sea. It's ours, take it. Promote trade, secure borders, and destroy anyone who disrupts freedom. Own the sea and air; cooperate with ally nations.
China Building Airstrip on 3rd Artificial Island, Images Show 点击查看本文中文版 Read in Chinese By JANE PERLEZSEPT. 15, 2015 Photo A satellite image of Mischief Reef taken on Sept. 8. CreditCenter for Strategic and International Studies, via Reuters Continue reading the main storyShare This Page China has started construction of an airstrip on a third artificial island in the South China Sea that will strengthen Beijing’s military capacity in the contested waters, Western analysts say. The photographs, released by the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, show preparation for airfields on Mischief Reef and Subi Reef, submerged reefs in the contested Spratly Islands that China has transformed into islands, according to the center. The airstrip on Mischief Reef is about 20 miles from a small Philippine military garrison on an existing tiny island and will put the installation under great pressure, said James Hardy, Asia-Pacific editor of IHS Jane’s Defense Weekly. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/16/w...n-3rd-artificial-island-images-show.html?_r=0
These "Islands" are nothing more than forward airbases. They are positioning their pieces for a move on Taiwan first, then the South China Sea Oil deposits.
Get a good hurricane or typhoon and they call them there, to blow through and all their work will be done. This is why we have HAARP
China hits back at US over islands BBC News 2 hrs ago SHARE TWEET EMAIL Iran passes nuclear deal into law Turkey sacks top police officials after Ankara attacks © Reuters Chinese dredging vessels purportedly seen in the waters around Mischief Reef in the disputed Spratly Islands in the South China Sea in this still image from video taken by a US surveillance aircraft on… China has hit back at the US in a row over marine territorial claims. Foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying alluded to the US when she blamed "some countries" for flexing "their military muscles again and again" in the South China Sea. Last week, US officials said they were considering sailing warships in an area around the Spratly island chain which China claims as territory. It has sparked tit-for-tat warnings between the two powers. China has been worrying its neighbours - and the US - by enlarging the series of tiny islands, reports the BBC's China analyst Michael Bristow. Washington believes Beijing is constructing military facilities, designed to reinforce its disputed claim to most of the region - a major shipping zone. China says its work is legal and needed to safeguard its sovereignty. 'Make no mistake' The row began when US officials said they were considering sending warships inside the 12-nautical-mile zones that China claims as territory around the Spratlys. That sparked strong words from China, with Ms Hua warning: "We will never allow any country to violate China's territorial waters and airspace in the Spratly Islands, in the name of protecting freedom of navigation and overflight." On Tuesday, US Defence Secretary Ash Carter expressed "strong concerns" over island-building, and defended Washington's plans. "Make no mistake, the United States will fly, sail and operate wherever international law allows, as we do around the world, and the South China Sea will not be an exception," he said at a news conference with the Australian foreign and defence ministers. "We will do that in the time and places of our choosing," he added, according to Reuters news agency. That in turn triggered Wednesday's rebuke from China. Asked about Mr Carter's comments, Ms Hua said: "I want to point out that some countries, in a region far from their own lands, have deployed offensive weaponry on a large scale and flexed their military muscles again and again in the South China Sea. "This is the biggest factor in the militarisation of the South China Sea. We hope the relevant countries cease hyping up the South China Sea issue and scrupulously abide by their promises not to take a position on the territorial disputes," she said, according to Reuters. US dilemma The US might have mounted sea patrols in this area, but not for several years, our analyst says - and not since China began its massive building programme in the South China Sea. A US military plane that flew near one of the islands in May was warned off - eight times. The US now has to decide whether to send in its ships and risk confrontation, or back down and look weak, our analyst says. Earlier this week, Vietnam criticised China's completion of two lighthouses in the South China Sea's Spratly islands, arguing they violated Vietnam's sovereignty. Beijing maintains the lighthouses will improve navigation. http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/china-hits-back-at-us-over-islands/ar-AAfrb7L?ocid=spartandhp
Thought you might find this interesting. Charting a BBC journalist attempting to fly over the international airspace over these islands. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-35031313
China scrambles fighters as U.S. sails warship near Chinese-claimed reef https://www.yahoo.com/news/u-conduc...eration-south-china-sea-052908352.html?ref=gs
Obama is going to Japan soon to promote "curbing the world stock pile of nuclear weapons." Have to imagine China, militarization in international water, will be a topic of discussion.
