Calum MacLeod, USA TODAY
BEIJING - The Chinese navy has conducted military drills over the past week around its southernmost territory in a show of strength to reinforce its sovereignty claim over a vast area of sea where several neighboring nations have competing claims.
The four-ship flotilla, including China's most advanced amphibious landing ship, reached James Shoal, called Zengmu Reef in Chinese, on Tuesday. During an on-board ceremony, sailors pledged an oath to defend China's sovereignty and maritime interests, and strive to achieve the dream of a strong China, reported the state news agency Xinhua.
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James Shoal is a small bank lying just 50 miles off the Malaysia coast, and 1,120 miles from the Chinese mainland. Both Malaysia and the Republic of China (Taiwan) also claim sovereignty. In 2010, a Chinese marine surveillance ship placed a sovereignty stele at the shoal.
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In recent years, as China's economic power and global weight have grown, its neighbors have complained that Beijing is taking a more aggressive approach to the multiple territorial disputes that divide them in the South China Sea and East China Sea. The areas include busy shipping lanes, rich fishing grounds and significant potential resources of oil and gas.
The naval visit is consistent with China's "shift from a land-focused power to a maritime power," said Stephanie Kleine-Ahlbrandt, Northeast Asia director for the International Crisis Group, a non-profit working in conflict prevention. The strategy has been pushed over the past two years, during which China has grown more assertive over its maritime claims, she said.
The recent consolidation of maritime agencies is designed to make them "better focused, better equipped and more effective in defending China's maritime claims," said Kleine-Ahlbrandt.
:eek:
BEIJING - The Chinese navy has conducted military drills over the past week around its southernmost territory in a show of strength to reinforce its sovereignty claim over a vast area of sea where several neighboring nations have competing claims.
The four-ship flotilla, including China's most advanced amphibious landing ship, reached James Shoal, called Zengmu Reef in Chinese, on Tuesday. During an on-board ceremony, sailors pledged an oath to defend China's sovereignty and maritime interests, and strive to achieve the dream of a strong China, reported the state news agency Xinhua.
James Shoal is a small bank lying just 50 miles off the Malaysia coast, and 1,120 miles from the Chinese mainland. Both Malaysia and the Republic of China (Taiwan) also claim sovereignty. In 2010, a Chinese marine surveillance ship placed a sovereignty stele at the shoal.
In recent years, as China's economic power and global weight have grown, its neighbors have complained that Beijing is taking a more aggressive approach to the multiple territorial disputes that divide them in the South China Sea and East China Sea. The areas include busy shipping lanes, rich fishing grounds and significant potential resources of oil and gas.
The naval visit is consistent with China's "shift from a land-focused power to a maritime power," said Stephanie Kleine-Ahlbrandt, Northeast Asia director for the International Crisis Group, a non-profit working in conflict prevention. The strategy has been pushed over the past two years, during which China has grown more assertive over its maritime claims, she said.
The recent consolidation of maritime agencies is designed to make them "better focused, better equipped and more effective in defending China's maritime claims," said Kleine-Ahlbrandt.
:eek: