VietNamNet Bridge - The steps taken by China, from Hainan to Hoang Sa (Paracel) and Truong Sa (Spratly), from military and civilian coordination, show that China is looking for ways to implement the ambition of monopolizing the East Sea.

Twenty-five years after the illegal use of force to occupy Gac Ma (Johnson South Reef) and six other reefs in Vietnam’s Spratly Islands, China once again, despite the objections of law and of international opinion, is improving and expanding this reef in order to turn it into an artificial island to serve the plot of gradually monopolize the East Sea.

Turning a reef into an artificial island

Johnson South is a reef located in the southwest of Sinh Ton (Sin Cowe) island in the Spratly Islands, Khanh Hoa Province of Vietnam.

Johnson South Reef lies adjacent to Vietnam’s Collins Reef (also known as Johnson North Reef) which is 6.4 km to the northwest. It is naturally above water only at low tide, but many rocks are above water at high tide.

After using force to illegally seize the reef in 1988, China has gradually renovated, built a number of small buildings, wharves and a fortified Chinese maritime observation station on the reef in order to turn this place into an illegal military outpost in the East Sea.

In late February 2014, China once again conducted large-scale expansion activities in the reef. Dozens of excavators, bulldozers, cranes and ships were used to build the reef into an artificial island, with clear structure of a deep-water port, a large pier, and a long runway.

According to the Chinese media, China wants to turn the reef into a military base with adequate logistics, engineering, and communication facilities.

More worryingly, what is going on in Johnson South Reef is just part of a wider plan to monopolize the East Sea. China is also renovating and expanding in the reefs of Chau Vien (Calderon), Huy Go (Hugh), Ga Ven (Gaven) and Xu Bi (Subi). The move is a threat to the peace and stability of Southeast Asia and East Asia.

China is turning the East Sea into its own pond

China’s brazen activities have not only violated the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC), international law, particularly the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS 1982), but also created a new situation that is extremely dangerous in the Spratlys Islands and the East Sea.

Once China completes the expansion and encroachment on the above reefs and redeploys its forces in the region, they will create a new balance of power with superiority in every aspect for China.

Geostrategically, the Spratly Islands in general and the Johnson South Reef in particular have very favorable positions. Johnson South Reef is the bottleneck of the  islands of Sinh Ton (Sin Cowe) and Song Tu, lying on the shipping route to the Spratlys and very close to the coast of Vietnam (only about 250 km to the east). The Johnson South Reef and Chau Vien (Cuarteron) Reef are very close to Ba Tu Chinh (Vanguard Bank) - Vung May (Rifleman) and Vietnam’s DK1 rig.

On the distribution of forces, the related sides as Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines and Taiwan only layout in this area some small-scale forces and the existing structures are primarily for defense. As for what the Chinese are doing, they will establish mixed air and naval, information and logistics bases in Johnson South Reef and other islands.

It will be totally overwhelmed by the Chinese because China is clearly applying the “attacking thought” in building and encroaching on the Johnson South Reef and other islands. Once completed, these grounds will be large enough to accommodate a strong attack. China will significantly enhance the ability to control the air, on the sea surface and underwater.

In terms of international law, recently when being asked about this issue, the Chinese Foreign Ministry’s spokeperson Hua Chunying replied that rehabilitating the reefs is to serve people's lives on the islands. This means that China will quibble that "Johnson South Reef" is able to afford life, so it will have regulations as other natural islands and they will draw the baseline and claim territorial waters and the exclusive economic zone for this reef.  If that happens, they will gradually establish a new legal basis for the so-called U-shaped line to monopoly the entire East Sea.

For military – civilian combination, the Chinese can fully establish an air-defence identity region on the south of the East Sea and take civil ships, fishermen, and even oil rigs and other means deep into the waters and the southern continental shelf of Vietnam. At that time the situation will become extremely complex.

Diplomatically, the new power relationships will help China get the greatest advantage in negotiation with ASEAN countries. China recently agreed to "consult" with ASEAN countries on the Code of Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (COC) but deliberately delayed the process to wait for the completion of building facilities on reefs and islands in the East Sea to have new powers to "talk" with ASEAN.

With such advantages, China cannot easily give up its ambitions in the East Sea. Looking back at China's actions in recent years, we can see that China has had a profound and very carefully calculated plan to gradually swallow the East Sea.

In the 1980s, top leaders of China decided to separate Hainan from Guangdong province and turned this island into an outpost on the sea. This is a strategic decision because they had long-term plans for the East Sea. In the 1990s, after deploying forces on the island of Hainan, they twice put Kantan-3 oil rig into the waters and continental shelf of Vietnam out of the Gulf of Tonkin.

After completion of the placement of military bases on the Paracel Islands that they illegally occupied, China pulled the HD-981 oil rig into the continental shelf and exclusive economic zone of Vietnam (5/2014).

Later, when the expansion of encroachment in the Spratly Islands is completed, sooner or later they will do the same. China's steps, from Hainan to the Paracel and the Spratly Islands and from military and civilian combination, show that China is looking for ways to implement its ambition of monopolizing the East Sea.

There should be early and decisive action

In this situation, Vietnam needs to take early action and resolutely oppose the wrongdoing, unilateral and provocative acts of China.

Legally, besides continuing to make convincing legal evidence to prove Vietnam's sovereignty to both the Paracels and Spratlys, Vietnam should clarify China’s acts to turn reefs into islands. This will not be valid and cannot be applied to the 1982 UNCLOS for artificial islands that China is trying to build. It is necessary to communicate with the United Nations and other relevant international courts about this.

On the media front, Vietnam needs to speak out as soon as possible, as strong as possible and it is necessary to mobilize the international community, especially ASEAN to protest China’s acts.

Diplomatically, Vietnam needs to coordinate with ASEAN to accelerate the negotiations on the COC, calling for the parties, especially China, to implement fully and effectively the DOC, particularly Article 5 of the DOC - a document that China officially signed.

Thai Anh