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| Fiery Cross Reef/Island |
China's land reclamation in the South China Sea are a test of its strategic will in the face of increasing pressure from the United States, according to a commentary in Hong Kong magazine Yazhou Zhoukan.
Tensions are escalating in the South China Sea, where China has continued to build new land to strengthen its control over disputed islands it claims as its sovereign territory. Fiery Cross Reef in the Spratlys in particular has been expanded via reclamation to become the largest island in the group. With a new runway and a significant build-up of military facilities on the reef, Fiery Cross has been dubbed "China's unsinkable aircraft carrier" by some US media.
Earlier this month, the USS Blue Ridge, the lead ship of the US Navy's two Blue Ridge class of command ships, was reportedly confronted by two Chinese warships in the South China Sea. Last week, a US Navy P-8A reconnaisance aircraft swooping over Chinese-controlled islands was reportedly warned eight times by the People's Liberation Army to leave China's "military alert zone." The US side insisted that they were over international waters.
On May 16, China's foreign minister, Wang Yi, reiterated his government's firm stance on its activities in the South China Sea following a meeting with the visiting US secretary of state, John Kerry.
"The determination of the Chinese side to safeguard our own sovereignty and territorial integrity is as firm as a rock, and it is unshakable," he said.
Read the full story at Want china Times