China's Artificial Islands Are Sinking...
In today’s video we will talk about the reasons why China's man-made islands are sinking. China tried to undermine international law by using the construction of artificial islands, but they have disappeared beneath the waves. This is one of China's most expensive and ambitious projects in the South China Sea. The artificial islands China that have been built in the South China Sea are vulnerable for attack and unlikely to contribute much to any combat mission, a Chinese military magazine has warned.
By quickly creating and developing artificial islands, Beijing was able to quickly seize territory they considered to be rightfully theirs. However, their desire for money and voracity has turned into an Achilles' heel as of which may also include impetuosity. Since the outposts of China in the China Seas have a fundamental weakness. These artificial islands have unique advantages in safeguarding Chinese sovereignty and maintaining a military presence in the deep ocean, but they have natural disadvantages in self-defense. The islands were deep in the South China Sea and far from the Chinese mainland. It also warned there was no coherent chain connecting them, so it would be difficult to provide support if one came under attack. The islands were too far away to deploy the J-16, China's most advanced multi-role strike fighter, effectively. The fighters could not patrol the area because of the distance and could be easily intercepted or attacked by surface ships. It has been five years since Adm. Harry Harris, commander of the U.S. Pacific Command drew popular attention to China’s efforts to fortify half a dozen reefs and atolls in the Spratly island chain in the South China Sea with the pithy expression: China’s Great Wall of Sand. But there are legitimate concerns about whether the airstrips the Chinese built might be sinking. No fighter jets have landed on them. However, by the time Admiral Harris mentioned their intentions, China had already finished expanding the runways to full capacity. A great deal of attention was paid to three artificial islands: Fiery Cross Reef, Subi Reef, and Mischief Reef. Three others had been improved but without runways. In the past three years, the Chinese government has extensively dredged and demolished ecologically sensitive reefs to construct seven major military bases containing ports, airtrips, and radars and missile systems in disputed areas. Due to their lack of submerged land, these islands are significant aircraft carriers, bolstering Beijing's claims of controlling fish and mineral resources, areas which in turn reinforces claims on nearby countries. The raw materials required for these bases were first gathered in massive vessels which grinded up the coral reefs during the years 2013 and 2014. The dredger Tianjing alone was carrying 4,500 cubic meters of materials each hour, which is said to be “nearly the volume of two Olympic-sized swimming pools,” Beijing claims it has begun restoring the reefs it destroyed, but it’s unclear how effective restoration efforts might be. According to a marine biologist John McMan at the University of Miami, dredging 'destroys nearly all of the living organisms on coral reefs.'
The installations “allow China to control the entirety of the South China Sea in any scenario short of all-out war with the United States,” The new port and resupply port facilities are enabling China to extend its power even further. Chinese survey vessels look for oil and gas in contested waters. There was a conflict between Chinese military and Vietnamese ships in the year 2014 when China put an oil platform in Vietnam's exclusive economic zone. After the initial platform was dismantled, a second one was installed. Still, however, not everything is going China's way. There are rumors that the new islands' foundation is crumbling and that claim their foundations are getting weaker in a hostile climate. And that is before considering what a direct hit from a super-typhoon might do. Neighboring countries are not cooperating with China on any potential gas exploration projects that might be located in their exclusive economic zones. Even though the Philippines' government officials and shareholders agreed in principle to one joint development they haven't signed off on the final paperwork agreement as of yet. Nor has China prevented foreign oil companies from working with other littoral states. The rig Chinese vessels harried in Vietnamese waters is operated by a Russian state enterprise, Rosneft, even though Russia is supposedly a close friend of China’s. The island bases’ uncertain future hasn’t deterred China from heaping additional capabilities on their potentially fragile infrastructure. In November 2019 a surveillance blimp for the first time appeared on Mischief Reef.