Lighthouse Plans Increase Tensions In The South China Sea

China revealed its military strategy of projecting its naval power into the South China Sea on Tuesday. The Asian country also revealed its plans of building two lighthouses in the area, which is expected to increase tensions with regional powers and the United States.

The white paper was issued by the state council of China indicating that the navy will shift its policy from simply defending offshore waters to defending both its offshore waters and the open seas. A number of regional powers have overlapping claims in the disputed waters, which is among the busiest shipping routes in the world.

The high seas were considered as among the four critical security domains by China. The three other security domains were cyberspace, outer space and nuclear force.

Even as China does not want to embark on a nuclear arms race or the weaponization of space, it was aggressive when it came to the high seas. The white paper also provided a warning to other world powers against implementing provocative actions in the affairs of the South China Sea. The warning was apparently directed at the United States, which has been vocal on its concerns on the reclamation projects of China.

China built airstrips on submerged reefs and created several artificial islands through its reclamation work, which has increased in speed in recent months. The main concern of the US is land reclamation on the reefs, which would have prevented China from claiming territorial waters since they are submerged at high tide.

Tension May Increase At The South China Sea- image credit: scmp.com

Pictures of the construction of lighthouses on two coral reefs were published by Xinhua recently. The pictures showed a groundbreaking ceremony that may result to additional land reclamation. Xinhua revealed that two multi-functional lighthouses will be built by the ministry of transport to provide navigation services to passing vessels.

Plans of increasing US military presence in the South China Sea may involve sailing near or flying over the artificial islands, A US plane was given multiple warnings by China recently as it flew over Fiery Cross Reef, where an airstrip and early-warning radar station was being built by China.

Yang Yujun, spokesman for the Chinese defense ministry, said the reclamation project of China were similar to infrastructure development on the mainland. Yan said there was no difference when the activities are viewed from the perspective of sovereignty.

Aside from China, regional powers have become wary of their neighbors with claims in the disputed waters. The Philippines enjoys the support of the US and Philippine President Benigno Aquino revealed that flyovers will continue despite the warning from China. He said they will continue to fly routes over the area basing on international law as indicated on conventions the Philippines has entered into.

The defense minister of the Philippines also said he will ask for additional equipment from Japan. Japan also revealed it will increase maritime safety and security agreements with Malaysia in the South China Sea.

Posted by James Fried on Wednesday May 27 2015, 10:56 AM EDT. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under World. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0