US calls for land reclamation 'halt' in South China Sea
Source: BBC
The US has called for an "immediate and lasting halt" to land reclamation in disputed areas of the South China Sea.
US Defence Secretary Ashton Carter told the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore that China's actions in the area were "out of step" with international rules.
China claims almost the whole of the South China Sea, resulting in overlapping claims with its neighbours.
Chinese officials have described US remarks on the South China Sea as "groundless and not constructive".
Read more: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-32941829
= new reply since forum marked as read
So asking is a great start.
Basically there are islands throughout the South China Sea and the Sea of Japan that are deputed by a number of countries (some of these islands are disputed by 2-4 countries). These islands include atolls, which are underwater reefs. These reefs are not that far under water from my understanding, so if a boat were to hit one they would be in trouble. China recently laid claim to the entire South China Sea.
Here is a good basic uncluttered map from that article:
Here's a map of the islands they are building on:
The above picture is from this article:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/special/2014/newsspec_8701/index.html
It is interesting to hear the Philippines version as well. China has claimed waters that are right off the coast of the Philippines. In fact if you look at some of the maps their claim runs directly down next to the entire Philippine island chain including very close to Palawan (an island that I visited four months ago).
The issues that I see are two fold:
1) Under sea oil exploration
2) The free movement of sea traffic through that area
How much oil there is and where is debatable. My question is on the second one, the free movement of sea traffic. If China were to assert the right to prevent boats and ships to enter those areas they could essentially bring a halt to trade. Whether that is their intention, we don't know for sure.