By Christopher Bodeen
BEIJING — Vessels from China's coast guard are nearly constantly on station at the Luconia Shoals off the coast of Malaysia's Sarawak State on the island of Borneo, according to the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative under the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
The presence of the vessels "speaks to Beijing's determination to establish administrative control throughout the nine-dash line," the report said, referring to China's roughly drawn outline of its South China Sea territorial claim.
The reefs lie between the Spratly chain, where China has been building islands out of reefs and equipping them with airstrips and other military installations, and James Shoal, which Beijing considers the southernmost extent of its territory. The James and Luconia shoals are underwater at high-tide and so cannot be claimed as territory.
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