Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, Vietnam, South Korea, Japan and China. Dotted with small islands, rocks and shoals, the South China Sea is at the center of a territorial dispute that pits more countries together. Tensions that have increased in recent years, because China has recovered around 2.000 acres of land in a massive dredging operation, then building airfields, ports and lighthouses.
The Chinese ambitions, are certainly not the last in order of time on the territory of the Spratly that Beijing calls the islands Nansha. In the last 50 years, all the countries of the Region have claimed their authority over the islands. Taiwan occupied one of the islands of the archipelago during World War II. Philippines, Vietnam (which disputes the Paracel Islands to China) and Malaysia all have advanced outposts.
China began its occupation of rocks and islands at the end of the 1980. Chinese advances, comparing satellite images from the 30 March last year to the 30 last January, show the extent of Chinese progress in building an island to Gaven Reefs in the Spratly. The Chinese have recovered 2.000 acres in less than two years: more than eight square kilometers, about 90 soccer fields.
President Xi Jinping, last September, during his last trip to Washington, said that "China has no intention of militarizing the islands". It is a pity that the long-range bombers can also take off from those landing strips according to the analysis of the Center for Strategic and International Studies. The Chinese foreign ministry then stated that artificial structures on the islands will also be of a military nature. The US government has not yet taken a position on territorial disputes in the South China Sea, but has called for an immediate end to the reclamation works.
But what are the Spratly hiding? The area is potentially rich in natural resources. Some areas, particularly along the Malaysian coast and a few kilometers from Vietnam, have proved rich in oil and gas. The seabed around the Spratly, officially not yet studied, it could raise oil and other natural resources.
