As China concludes its live-fire exercises around Taiwan, Beijing denounces the “intrusion” of an American destroyer in a sector of the South China Sea. This area is now scrutinized by many observers.
In total, it bathes seven countries with its 3,500,000 km2. And it stirs up certain desires. The South China Sea is located in Southeast Asia. It borders southern China, Taiwan, then skirts Vietnam and goes as far as the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia. It is a major strategic axis since 30% of world trade passes through here, in particular huge container ships which come to deliver Europe.
And in the middle of this partly closed sea, there are many islands, sometimes simple reefs, pebbles a few meters high, totally uninhabitable, or paradisiacal atolls, but tiny.
Yet it is these confetti of islands that stir up tensions, since the country that plants its flag on these lands has territorial waters. Clearly, several kilometers of sea (sometimes several hundred) then belong to him. It is for this reason that China, in recent years, has literally settled, sometimes by force, on some of these small islands.
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Satellite images have shown that tiny atolls, which used to be just a sandbar, are now home to an airstrip and a few houses. This is enough to be claimed as Chinese territory, while being claimed at the same time by other countries in the region.
>> The South China Sea, one of the potentially most dangerous areas on the planet
An increasingly militarized zone
This tangle of territorial claims suddenly pushes to militarize the region. China, for more than ten years, has taken the opportunity to build military installations on these reefs or atolls: hangars, radars or even anti-aircraft and anti-ship missile batteries…
In this South China Sea, Beijing has deployed considerable resources across the entire sea in an attempt to gain direct access to the Pacific Ocean. As a result, neighboring countries, too, have strengthened themselves militarily in recent years, while remaining fearful of the Chinese giant.
Added to this is the presence around this area of American ships, such as the one detected on Monday April 10 by Beijing. The United States, too, has increased its presence in recent years, not least because it has many allies in the region, such as the Philippines. As China closed three days of military exercises on Monday aimed at simulating a “closure” of Taiwan, the United States also made a show of force by having its destroyer perform USS Milius a “freedom of navigation operation” in an area of the South China Sea claimed by Beijing. I‘”intrusion” was immediately denounced by China.