Friday, July 31, 2015

What has China been building in the South China Sea?

From the New York Times (Jul 31): What has China been building in the South China Sea?

China has been feverishly piling sand onto reefs in the South China Sea for the past year, creating seven new islets in the region. It is straining geopolitical tensions that were already taut. JULY 31, 2015

May 2015

Images by DigitalGlobe, via the CSIS Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative, and CNES, via Airbus DS and IHS Jane’s

What China Has Been Building
in the South China Sea

By DEREK WATKINS July 31, 2015

Asia

Pacific Ocean

South China Sea

Africa

Australia

The speed and scale of China’s island-building spree have alarmed other countries with interests in the region. China announced in June that the creation of islands — moving sediment from the seafloor to a reef — would soon be completed. “The announcement marks a change in diplomatic tone, and indicates that China has reached its scheduled completion on several land reclamation projects and is now moving into the construction phase,” said Mira Rapp-Hooper, director of the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington research group. So far China has built port facilities, military buildings and an airstrip on the islands. The installations bolster China’s foothold in the Spratly Islands, a disputed scattering of reefs and islands in the South China Sea more than 500 miles from the Chinese mainland.

Guangzhou

Hong Kong

Kunming

China

Luzon

Hanoi

Pacific Ocean

South China Sea

Hainan

Manila

Vietnam claims the Paracel and the Spratly Islands.

Myanmar

Laos

Paracel Islands

Philippines

Claimed by the Philippines

China has long marked its claim with a “nine-dash line” that skirts the coasts of other countries.

Visayas

Thailand

Mindanao

Palawan

Vietnam

Yangon

Sulu Sea

Cambodia

Spratly Islands

Bangkok

Fiery Cross Reef

100 Miles

Ho Chi Minh City

Phnom Penh

Celebes Sea

Claimed by Brunei

Gulf of Thailand

Malaysia

Andaman Sea

Claimed by Malaysia

Brunei

Indonesia

Sulawesi

Claimed by Indonesia

Borneo

Islands are colored by occupying country: China, the Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam or Taiwan. Lines in the same colors show the extent of territorial claims.

Sources: C.I.A., NASA, China Maritime Safety Administration

The new islands allow China to harness a portion of the sea for its own use that has been relatively out of reach until now. Although there are significant fisheries and possible large oil and gas reserves in the South China Sea, China’s efforts serve more to fortify its territorial claims than to help it extract natural resources, Dr. Rapp-Hooper said.The islands are too small to support large military units but will enable sustained Chinese air and sea patrols of the area. The United States has reported spotting Chinese mobile artillery vehicles in the region, and the islands could allow China to exercise more control over fishing in the region.

Dredgers

Sediment stream

Dredgers pump sediment onto Mischief Reef, March 2015.

Image by DigitalGlobe, via CSIS Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative

Dredgers pump sediment onto Mischief Reef, March 2015. Image by DigitalGlobe, via CSIS Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative

The Chinese were relative latecomers to island building in the Spratly archipelago, and “strategically speaking, China is feeling left out,” said Sean O’Connor, principal imagery analyst for IHS Jane’s. Still, China’s island building has far outpaced similar efforts in the area, unsettling the United States, which sees about $1.2 trillion in annual bilateral trade go through the South China Sea. At the end of May, Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter criticized China’s actions in the region.

Several reefs have been destroyed outright to serve as a foundation for new islands, and the process also causes extensive damage to the surrounding marine ecosystem. Frank Muller-Karger, professor of biological oceanography at the University of South Florida, said sediment “can wash back into the sea, forming plumes that can smother marine life and could be laced with heavy metals, oil and other chemicals from the ships and shore facilities being built.” Such plumes threaten the biologically diverse reefs throughout the Spratlys, which Dr. Muller-Karger said may have trouble surviving in sediment-laden water.

Half a mile

Dredgers

Submerged reef

Dozens of dredgers and support ships at Mischief Reef, June 2015.

Image by DigitalGlobe, via CSIS Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative

Dozens of dredgers and support ships at Mischief Reef, June 2015. Image by DigitalGlobe, via CSIS Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative

What Is on the Islands?

Philippine claim

Reed Bank

Existing airstrip

Subi Reef

Sand Cay

Gaven Reef

Mischief Reef

Fiery Cross Reef

Johnson South Reef

Hughes Reef

South China Sea

Philippines

Under construction

Spratly Islands

West Reef

Malaysian claim

Sulu Sea

50 Miles

Chinese claim

Islands and reefs that have undergone recent construction are shown with a white ring. Colored rings show whether the feature is occupied by China, the Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam or Taiwan.

Sources: C.I.A., NASA, China Maritime Safety Administration

Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines and Taiwan have all expanded islands in the Spratlys as well, but at nowhere near the same scale as China.

2011

2015

Island expansion

Land reclamation at Vietnam’s Sand Cay.

Image by DigitalGlobe, via CSIS Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative

Land reclamation at Vietnam’s Sand Cay. Image by DigitalGlobe, via CSIS Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative

For China, the Fiery Cross Reef is the most strategically significant new island, with a nearly completed airstrip that will be large enough to allow China to land any plane, from fighter jets to large transport aircraft. But China’s airfield is not the first in the region — every other country that occupies the Spratlys already operates one as well.

Dredging pipes

Seawall

10,000-foot airstrip

Apron

Support buildings

Cement plant

Seawall under construction

Temporary loading pier

Harbor

Construction on Fiery Cross Reef, April 2015.

Image by CNES distributed by Airbus DS, via IHS Jane’s

Construction on Fiery Cross Reef, April 2015. Image by CNES distributed by Airbus DS, via IHS Jane’s

China’s reefs hosted smaller structures for years before the surge in construction. By preserving these initially isolated buildings, China can claim that it is merely expanding its earlier facilities, similar to what other countries have done elsewhere in the region.

Possible radar facility

Harbor

Cement plant

Pier

Solar panels

Existing structure

Construction on Johnson South Reef, May 2015.

Image by DigitalGlobe, via CSIS Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative

Construction on Johnson South Reef, May 2015. Image by DigitalGlobe, via CSIS Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative

China continues to expand islands at two locations, Mischief Reef and Subi Reef. It is unclear what structures will be built on the islands, though each will have straight portions long enough for airfields.