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发帖数: 3718 | 1 http://thediplomat.com/2015/06/who-is-the-biggest-aggressor-in-
Who Is the Biggest Aggressor in the South China Sea?
In the past 20 years, Vietnam has doubled its holdings in the South China
Sea.
GA
By Greg Austin
June 18, 2015
In 1996, Vietnam occupied 24 features in the Spratly Islands (source).
At that time, according to the same source, China occupied nine. By 2015,
according to the United States government, Vietnam occupied 48 features, and
China occupied eight.
On May 13, U.S. Assistant Secretary of Defense, David Shear, said this to
the Senate Foreign relations Committee: “Vietnam has 48 outposts; the
Philippines, 8; China, 8; Malaysia, 5, and Taiwan, 1.”
In the past 20 years, according to the United States, China has not
physically occupied additional features. By contrast, Vietnam has doubled
its holdings, and much of that activity has occurred recently. The
Vietnamese occupations appear to have increased from 30 to 48 in the last
six years.
Shear also pointed out that as of his speech, China did not have an airfield
as other claimants did. He said:
All of these same claimants have also engaged in construction activity of
differing scope and degree. The types of outpost upgrades vary across
claimants but broadly are comprised of land reclamation, building
construction and extension, and defense emplacements. Between 2009 and 2014,
Vietnam was the most active claimant in terms of both outpost upgrades and
land reclamation, reclaiming approximately 60 acres. All territorial
claimants, with the exception of China and Brunei, have also already built
airstrips of varying sizes and functionality on disputed features in the
Spratlys.
It appears China has now built an airfield and that this was already visible
in April 2015, when the Daily Mail reported that “images showed a paved
section of runway 505m by 53m on the northeastern side” of Fiery Cross Reef
. Now media pundits are engaged in a debate about how many acres China has
reclaimed, suggesting that China has been more aggressive than Vietnam
because it has reclaimed more acres.
The statement by Shear in May puts additional critical light on the
suggestion of some in the United States that China is not only making “
preposterous” claims but is being the most aggressive actor in the
territorial disputes (see: “Intelligence Check: Just How ‘Preposterous’
Are China’s South China Sea Activities?”). Shear specifically said that
between 2009 and 2014, Vietnam had been the most active. This helps us
understand what Chinese military leaders mean when they say China has shown
“great restraint.” |
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