Vietnam Begins Its Own Island-Building Project in the South China Sea

With main objector Philippines placated, Vietnam is taking the mantle of opposition to China’s colonization of the South China Sea, with a new report indicating that it has begun dredging land in the Spratly Island chain. Reuters reports that satellite images reveal a new dredging project in the Vietnamese Spratly Islands, apparently intended to convert Ladd Reef from a shifting tidal land mass to a sturdy island onto which Hanoi can build military and civilian assets. The reef is already home to a lighthouse, Reuters notes, but it “is completely submerged at high tide.” The dredging project appears designed to change this.

The Reuters report notes that, while Vietnam’s government did not respond to a request for comment on the new construction, China responded with another warning against Vietnam developing its sovereign territory. China, Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said, has “indisputable sovereignty over the Nansha [Spratly] islands, including Riji [Ladd] reef.” “We urge the relevant countries to respect China’s sovereignty and rights, end their illegal occupation and illegal operations, and not take any actions that may complicate the situation,” he added.

“Even little Vietnam is working to defend against China’s attempted colonization of the South China Sea.
Wonder what a Trump presidency will do? “

China has a number of serious problems. They are, I think, taking a page from the Argentinian approach to keeping the populous occupied. They have picked a fight they think they can easily win.

I think the Chinese government feels more threatened now than at any time since the Korean war. Lots of people are doing better than at any time in the past. The problem is that much of that wealth is illusory, already undermined by mammoth government corruption. It is unsustainably propped up by building projects that nobody wants or needs or can afford and by make-work jobs. The situation has been made worse by a world-wide decline that may take fifty years to reverse. (The decline probably started in Japan in the eighties and they haven’t pulled out of it yet.)

I think all Trump has to do is make it known he will adhere to the agreements the US has kept until Obama’s time. The nuclear umbrella and a pretty solid wall formed by South Korea, India, Japan, Australia and others should keep China in check. The Chinese don’t want a Falkland Islands situation. Trump’s conversation with Taiwan indicates he is doing the right things to keep this on the back burner.

President Trump should order the Navy to sail vessels very close to the disputed artificial islands every single day and should order the Navy and/or the Air Force to overfly them (at the lowest safe altitude possible) also on a daily basis.

And he should order that these maneuvers begin on 1/21/17.

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