By David Blair,
China has delivered a pointed message to its Asian neighbours and America by staging a military parade on Hainan Island, the province closest to the disputed waters of the South China Sea.
The “Patriotism National Defence Weapons Exhibition” took place in Haikou, the capital of Hainan. The weapons on display - supposedly developed by China within the last 20 years - included a J-10 jet fighter, a WZ-10 helicopter gunship and a tank designed for amphibious operations.
China's frigate 'Yulin' in action in the South China Sea (GETTY)
Hainan’s position off China’s southern coast means the island would be the primary base for any military operations in the event of war in the South China Sea. Phoenix News, a Chinese state website, said the event “displayed the nation’s prestige”.
China has laid claim to 90 per cent of the South China Sea, which is believed to be rich in oil and gas. Beijing’s claim to the Spratly islands overlaps with those of Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam and Taiwan. This remote archipelago – which has no indigenous population – lies across some of the world’s most important shipping lanes.
The rival claims have been outstanding for decades, but China has begun to change the status quo by constructing artificial islands inside the Spratly chain, which lies over 800 miles from its coastline. Neighbouring states fear these ambitious projects could herald the construction of Chinese naval and other military facilities.
Chinese dredging vessels in the waters around Mischief Reef
As if to confirm these fears, American surveillance has detected two motorised artillery pieces positioned on one artificial island, according to the Wall Street Journal. This particular island was completed by China inside the Spratly archipelago about one month ago.
If China has deployed military assets in the Spratly chain, this would mark a “substantial escalation”, said Jonathan Eyal, the head of international security studies at the Royal United Services Institute.
“The militarisation of the situation would make it very clear that the Chinese objective is to impose physical control over some of the most sensitive international waterways in the world,” said Mr Eyal. “It would show China’s long term intention, which is a permanent, physical, military presence in these waterways."
Mr Eyal added: “We are moving to a far more dangerous phase where the Chinese are not merely asserting their claims, but cementing them in military terms.”
Credit to The Telegraph
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