China’s newest city is a tiny and remote island in the South China Sea, barely large enough to host a single airstrip. There is a post office, bank, supermarket and a hospital, but little else. Fresh water comes by freighter on a 13-hour journey from China’s southernmost province.
Welcome to Sansha, China’s expanding toehold in the world’s most disputed waters, portions of which are also claimed by Vietnam, the Philippines and other neighbors. On Tuesday, as blustery island winds buffeted palm trees, a new mayor declared Sansha with a population of just 1,000 China’s newest municipality.
Beijing has created the city administration to oversee not only the rugged outpost but hundreds of thousands of square kilometers (miles) of water, aiming to strengthen its control over disputed — and potentially oil-rich — islands.
A spokesman for the Philippines Foreign Ministry said Manila did not recognize the city or its jurisdiction. Vietnam said China’s actions violated international law.
The city administration is on tiny Yongxing island, 350 kilometers (220 miles) southeast from China’s tropical Hainan Island. The Cabinet approved Sansha last month to “consolidate administration” over the Paracel and Spratly island chains and the Macclesfield Bank, a large, completely submerged atoll that boasts rich fishing grounds that is also claimed by Taiwan and the Philippines.
Vietnam and China both claim the Paracels, of which Yongxing, little more than half the size of Manhattan’s Central Park, is part. The two countries along with the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan also claim all or parts of the Spratlys.
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Chinese squatters on the South China Sea islands. Reminds me of the Falkland Islands. Got popcorn!