Here is the new US plan to prevent the construction of island in China

The last The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which allocates defense spending for 2019, paves the way for a stronger US response to China's assertive behavior in the South China Sea. . Adopted by Congress on August 1 and signed by President Trump on August 13, NDAA contains several promising measures, including the Pentagon's authorization to increase the transparency of China's coercive activities.

As a result of "all important [land] claim, excessive territorial claim or militarization activity of the People's Republic of China in the South China Sea ", NDAA Section 1262 requests the Secretary of Defense to" report "immediately to Congress and the public.

Until now, the South China Sea suffered from a persistent lack of transparency, forcing the public, researchers and the media to use commercial satellite technology to obtain information about these disputes. Supporters of greater transparency, like Ely Ratner, have "The lack of public information on China's activities in the South China Sea has hindered regional coordination and strengthened China's ability to take progressive steps to consolidate control."

Given the simultaneous evolution of China's assertive behavior in American politics and the US conversation about the South China Sea, the NDAA-mandated reports would change the situation if they were actually implemented. Taking control of the story would help Washington revitalize public interest in disputes, unite regional partners and put pressure on China.

Creeping coercion

Territorial conflicts in the South China Sea began in the middle of the 20th century, periodically warming between the years 1970 and 1990. After a period of relative stability in the early 2000s, tensions have steadily increased since 2009, thanks to Beijing. China notably took control of Scarborough Shoal in the Philippines in 2012 and caused a two-month stalemate with Vietnam by deploying an oil rig in disputed waters in 2014.

The next phase of escalation began when land development projects in China started in 2014. Evidence of island building in China in the Spratly Islands was first announced in May 2014. Researchers said China had started to reclaim its land by the end of 2013. Construction projects in China have grown rapidly, covering more than 3,200 acres of land.

Since 2014, China has installed radar installations, landing strips, missile structures and military jamming equipment on its artificial islands. Although China is not the first country to build such facilities in the South China Sea, the scope of its activities far exceeds that of any other applicant.

May 2, 2018, a CNBC bomb revealed that China had deployed YJ-12B anti-ship cruise missiles and HQ-9B surface-to-air missiles on Fiery Cross Reef, Subi Reef and Mischief Reef. Although China installed missiles in the Paracel Islands in 2016, this incident marks the first time that China has placed missiles in the Spratly Islands – an unambiguous escalation of its militarization program. Later in May, China landed long-range bombers for the first time in the Spratly Islands.

In response to these developments, the United States has deterred China from participating in the RIMPAC (Rim of the Pacific) exercise. The Ministry of Defense described this disinvitation as an "initial response". Now, with the NADA fiscal year of 2019, we are about to see the follow-up given by Congress.

Increasing participation

In recent years, growing instability has pushed the United States to intervene more directly in the South China Sea. At a meeting of the Regional Forum of ASEAN in July 2010, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced that the United States is now ready to play a direct mediating role in disputes – an important policy change. In the years since Clinton's announcement, the United States has strengthened its defense partnership with the Philippines, lifted its deadly arms embargo against Vietnam and strengthened its ties with ASEAN, among other measures. .

Since October 2015, the US Navy has conducted several Freedom of Navigation Operations (FONOPs) in the South China Sea to challenge the legitimacy of land reclamation projects in China. However, as demonstrated in recent years, the FONOPs can not stop China's steady military rise, and they are not designed for that.

The American conversation

Washington's reactions to the crisis in the South China Sea are particularly noteworthy, but rising tensions are also attracting the interest of a wider American public. According to ProQuest's US Newsstream database, coverage of the South China Sea by US newspapers has increased from 239 "news" items in 2009 to a maximum of 4,061 articles in 2016.

As the media began to devote more attention to disputes, US politicians did the same. Candidates from the two main US political parties debated the South China Sea for the first time during the 2016 presidential election cycle, further evidence of the rise of the issue in the US public sphere.

However, interest in the South China Sea seems to have decreased since 2016. Only 2,245 newspaper articles mentioned the South China Sea in 2017, reflecting a "false appeasement" that emerged as a result of The Hague 2016 judgment and the absence of significant incidents. This downward trend seems to be continuing to date in 2018, as China's potential recent provocations can revive US interest.