China raises flags on controversial reefs near its Philippine base, tensions escalate in the South China Sea | World News
China has “maritime governance” over the controversial South China Sea uninhabited reefs and claims its sovereign authority, according to a report from the Japan Times, as it raised its national flag on a small sandbank just a few kilometers from the Philippines’ main military base.
Images released by Chinese state media on Saturday depicting officials from the Chinese Coast Guard unfolding the flag to effectively control Sandy Cay Reef, known as Tiexian Jiao in China earlier this month. The reefs are located in the controversial Sprat Islands chain, Taiwan, Vietnam and the Philippines also claim, as reported by the Japan Times.
Located over 3 kilometers from Thitu Island, Sandy Cay is known as PAG-ASA by Manila, which houses Philippine military devices, including military-grade runways and about 250 residents.
China’s Global Times said Coast Guard personnel had arrived at Sandy Cay, “in the Japan Times report, a Rave inspection was conducted on the video and recorded illegal activities in the video “also cleared “plastic bottles, wooden sticks and other garbage scattered on the reef plane.”
In January, Beijing claimed that Chinese troops intercepted and “dissuaded” Philippine Navy ships “into” waters near the reef, and they allegedly attempted to “illegal landing and sand sample collection.”
The Philippines said it has sent the Coast Guard to the area to monitor and investigate whether China is trying to carry out island reclamation projects in the area. China asserts that the approximately 200 square meters of Sandy Reef is a natural strata, rather than an artificial structure, and under international law it grants its territory of 12-time miles (22 kilometers) that it will overlap with the island of Thitu.
Between 2013 and 2016, China undertook a major land reclamation program in the South China Sea, building several military posts in a unified effort to strengthen its trade in about 90% of the resource-rich waters, through which trade is traded annually, as stated in the Japan Times.
“One of the ironies is that China’s interest in Sandy Cay is strengthening the legitimacy of the neighboring Subi reefs that can now accommodate a major man-made port and airport. This leads to legal developments that support further expansionism.”
