Territorial conflicts in the China Sea

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Territorial conflicts in the waters of East Asia

To territorial conflicts in the South China Sea occurred since the 1950s -Jahren between the local residents and other interested parties with far-reaching economic and security interests. In many cases, the territorial boundaries between the neighboring states have not been clarified. People's Republic of China , Republic of China (Taiwan) , Japan , South Korea , the Philippines , Malaysia , Brunei , Indonesia and Vietnam partly claim the same sea areas and islands. The conflict is triggered by the interest in raw material deposits and rich fishing grounds in the sea areas of the South China and Yellow Seas.

geography

Territorial Claims and Exclusive Economic Zones in the South China Sea

The term China Sea refers to a large marginal sea of the Pacific . This consists of the Yellow Sea , the Gulf of Bohai , the East China Sea and the South China Sea . The sea lies between Borneo , back India , the Japanese Kyushu Islands, the Malay Peninsula , North Korea , South Korea and the east coast of China .

The South China Sea has an area of ​​approximately 3.6 million  km² and a maximum depth of 5016  m . An estimated 30 million barrels of oil and 7,500 km³ of natural gas are stored in its seabed . Around 50 percent of all goods shipped annually are transported through the South China Sea. There should also be mineral deposits there.

Political background

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The hundreds of islands in the South China Sea and the location between eight countries make the area a geopolitical hotspot of the 20th and 21st centuries. The countries of Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines also face domestic religious and social difficulties. The long-standing China-Taiwan conflict plays a role in the maritime law disputes.

Brantly Womack (political scientist at the University of Virginia) sees the economic crisis from 2008 as the reason for the escalation of the territorial dispute from 2011 onwards. In his opinion, the PRC has grown in strength by leaps and bounds since the economic crisis due to the weakness of the rest of the world economy. As a result, China's economic lead over its Southeast Asian neighbors grew and they began to feel more unprotected and vulnerable. The US's economic lead over China has continued to decline, so that Washington has started to worry more and more about China as a potential rival and challenger. According to the FAZ , scientists point out that the South China Sea would have the same weight for the PR China as Tibet , Hong Kong or Taiwan .

Matthias Naß of the weekly newspaper Die Zeit thinks that China sees a mare nostrum in the Yellow Sea, the East China and South China Seas . These “nearby sea areas” extended to a “first island line”, which ran from the southern tip of Japan via Taiwan to the Philippines. He suspects that the People's Republic might even want to secure its dominance as far east as the "Second Island Line" with the Marianas , Guam and Palau . Then the US would not be able to send its aircraft carrier formations into the Strait of Taiwan , as it did during the last crisis in 1996.

history

The South China Sea has been one of the most important trade routes in Southeast Asia since historic times . The shipping lanes and fishing grounds were used by all residents. The islands in the South China Sea were only partially populated and were used by fishermen as a landing point.

After the end of the Second World War , China in particular applied for various island groups. Former Japanese islands were only gradually returned to Japan by the Allies.

The Paracel Islands were occupied by China in 1974. The historically strained relationship between Japan and China also affected the claims of sea areas in the China Sea. Relations between the two countries initially relaxed noticeably under the Japanese Hatoyama government, until an open dispute over territorial claims over the Senkaku Islands broke out (Kan government, early 2011).

Disputed areas

Spratly Islands

Official occupations in the Spratly Islands area
Zhubi Jiao (Subi Reef) in May 2015

The Spratly Islands are claimed as their territory by six nations:

Large ore and oil deposits are suspected to be under the area of ​​around 180,000 square kilometers . The area is extremely rich in fish . It is strategically located in one of the most heavily frequented waterways in the world. Around a quarter of all transport ship routes worldwide (as of 2012) lead through this strait.

Most of the islands in the archipelago are only a few hectares in size and can only be supplied by helicopter or small boats .

Some of the islands, including Taiping Dao, the largest, were officially claimed by France as part of Indochina in 1887 and occupied by French troops in 1930.

The Philippines keep the northeastern part occupied. They refer to their EEZ . On the island of Thitu (Pagasa) (size 32 ha) around 200 civilians were settled in the place Kalayaan , the rest of the occupation consists of pure military bases. The Philippine Army maintains few soldiers on West York Island (Likas) (19 ha), on Northeast Cay (Parola) (13 ha), on Nanshan (Lawak) (8 ha) and Loaita (Kota) (6 ha).

Taiwan has established a permanent military base with a long runway on Taiping Dao (Itu Aba) (46 hectares). This largest of all Spratly Islands is located in the north central area and is populated by 600 soldiers . In addition, there is no permanent population. Taiping Dao was conquered by Japan during World War II and turned into a submarine base. Administratively, the island was added to the Takao ( Kaohsiung ) district, part of the then Japanese colony of Taiwan . After the Japanese withdrew, Taiping Dao was returned to the Republic of China in 1946 , and it was incorporated into Guangdong Province . Taiwan secured its claim to the island against Japan in the 1952 Treaty of Taipei . Despite the opposition on the part of Vietnam, a runway for aircraft was built on the island in 2005 . So it is possible to land the C-130 Hercules transporter.

Malaysia occasionally maintains military divers and naval observation posts in the Swallow Reef. Due to the tiny size of 6 hectares, divided into several cliffs, no permanent structures were built there. Malaysia claims further, only a few square meters large reefs in the southeast of the archipelago, which would lie in their EEZ.

The tiny state of Brunei also makes claims to some atolls of the Spratly Islands, which are in its EEZ.

Vietnam occupies most of the Spratly Islands. These are mainly in the west, south, north and central areas. On Spratly (Truong Sa) (13 ha) there is a short runway and some Vietnamese soldiers . Soldiers are also stationed on Southwest Cay (Pugad) (Song Tu Tay) (12 ha), as well as on Sin Cowe (8 ha), Sand Cay (Son Ca) (7 ha) and Namyit (Nam Yet) (5 ha). The Vietnamese Navy maintains a lighthouse on Amboyna Cey (1 ha) .

The People's Republic of China has the Johnson Reef (Chigua Reef) under military occupation. In 1988 there was a bloody battle against Vietnamese troops here. The reef has been protected from sinking by an artificial dam since 1990 and is regularly completely flooded at spring tide , at normal tide only small rock peaks protrude from the water. The Subi Reef, which is also occupied by the Chinese Navy , is actually not capable of occupation because it only protrudes out of the water briefly at low tide. This Chinese occupation is more of a permanent sea maneuver in shallow water and less of an occupation. In addition, China has fortified the Yongshu Jiao atoll (0.8 ha), which is threatened by flooding, with concrete walls and maintains a vegetable plantation there. Civilians (53 fishermen) have already been settled on Meiji Jiao ( Mischief Reef ).

After China had turned some reefs into artificial islands, the US demonstratively sent its destroyer Lassen in front of the Spratly Islands at the end of October 2015, showing that it did not recognize a Chinese claim to these islands. China stationed missiles and cruise missiles on the Spratley Islands in 2018, and the US then unloaded China from jointly planned maneuvers.

Senkaku Islands

Location of the uninhabited Senkaku Islands (5 islands, 3 rocks)
Senkaku Islands, left Uotsuri Jima (Diaoyu Dao) island, right Kita Kojima (Bei Xiaodao) and Minami Kojima (Nan Xiaodao) September 15, 2010

The Senkaku Islands or parts of them are claimed by three nations as their territory:

The Senkaku Islands (Jap. Senkaku Shoto) or Chinese Diaoyu (tai) Islands (Chinese Diaoyutai Qúndǎo, Diàoyúdǎo Jiqi fùshǔdǎoyǔ, fishing islands') are an uninhabited island group on the continental shelf in the East China Sea about 200 kilometers northeast of Taiwan and 300 km of west of Okinawa . Since 1972 they have been administered (again) by Japan. Japan declared the five uninhabited reefs its territory since its naval war with China in 1894. Beijing traces its claim to the islands to the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644) and to the Cairo and Potsdam Declarations of 1943 and 1945. Both the Republic of China (Taiwan) and the People's Republic of China have claimed these islands since 1970/71. The dispute intensified since rich oil and gas deposits were suspected in the island area. In 2012, Japan bought parts of the islands from their private owners. This caused major protests on the Chinese side. The PRC declared the purchase invalid and illegal.

Hong Kong naval police tried unsuccessfully in mid-September 2012 to stop the departure of 14 activists on the fishing trawler Kai Fung number 2 from the port of Hong Kong. Before their ship reached international waters, the officers disembarked. When the cutter came near them, the Japanese coast guard could not prevent some activists from jumping into the water and swimming to the reefs to hoist the flags of the People's Republic of China and Taiwan. After that, they were arrested. Under pressure from Beijing, Japan deported the detainees to Hong Kong.

Despite Tokyo's ban on entering the islands, 150 Japanese patriots responded to the Chinese action by visiting the island. They swam from their boats to the island to hoist their flags. The Japanese government said it regretted the action, which sent the wrong signal.

Paracel Islands

The Paracel Islands are a group of small coral atolls around 330 km southeast of Hainan Island in the South China Sea .

The Paracel Islands are entirely claimed as their territory by two nations:

The entire archipelago is controlled by the People's Republic of China . In 2012, plans were announced that the People's Republic would build a military base on the islands and move a garrison there. The islands are subordinate to the province of Hainan and belong to the prefecture-level city of Sansha . Almost 600 people live on the islands. In May 2018, Chinese fighter planes and bombers landed on the islands and carried out firing exercises at sea targets from there; on May 27, two American warships passed through the 12-mile zone.

Zhongsha Islands

The Zhongsha Islands (also Macclesfield Bank) is a submerged atoll in the South China Sea. The atoll is east of the Paracel Islands, southwest of the Pratas Islands and north of the Spratly Islands. It stretches over 130 km southwest to northeast.

The Zhongsha Islands are claimed as their territory by three nations:

Some scientists doubt whether a territorial claim of a nation-state can be made at all, since the entire area lies below the surface of the water.

Huangyan Dao (Scarborough Reef)

Huangyan Dao

Huangyan Dao is the name of a largely submerged atoll that is located in the China Sea. It consists of 2 islands, several larger and numerous smaller coral stocks. The main island Nanyan (South Rock) has an area of ​​approx. 3–4 m² and protrudes as a rock up to 2 m out of the sea (at high tide). The areas are uninhabited. On the reef of the atoll there are other, even smaller islands, which can normally only be reached at high tide. All rocks together have about two hectares of land. The area is important as a fishing ground.

It also counts as a DXCC entity in amateur radio . As a result, three radio expeditions to this reef have taken place so far (1995, 1997 and 2007).

Huangyan Dao is claimed as their territory by two nations:

Currently the area is administered by China. China has counted the reef as part of its territory since 1935.

From the Philippines, Huangyan Dao is counted as Kulumpol ng Panatag to the city of Palauig in the province of Zambales (as a special administrative zone next to the city's 19 barangays). From the Chinese point of view, the atoll belongs to the Zhongsha Islands , a "hypothetical large community" in the city of Sansha , Hainan Province .

On April 10, 2012, Chinese fishermen landed at an uninhabited Huangyan Daos atoll. They have been fishing there for years under the protection of Chinese reconnaissance boats that are supposed to keep the Philippine Navy at a distance. For their part, Chinese fishermen refer to the Philippines as " poachers ".

Role and positions of different countries and organizations

China

The PRC claims 80 percent of the South China Sea. China justifies this with the existence of thousands of small islands, which have traditionally been part of Chinese territory since the 2nd century. Most of these islands are uninhabited and the larger ones are under the control of other countries. China asserted its claim to the entire sea surface as early as the 1970s. In 1974 the Chinese Navy expelled South Vietnamese from the Paracel Islands they claimed. In 1988, the Navy killed over 70 Vietnamese who hoisted their flags on the Johnson Reef of the Spratlys. In the short sea battle of half an hour, Vietnam lost three ships and 77 sailors. In 1994 the Chinese Navy landed on the Mischief Reef, which is claimed by the Philippines.

In 2002, after talks between ASEAN and China, an agreement on “rules of conduct” in the South China Sea was reached. In 2003 there was a declaration of a temporary construction freeze on the Spratly Islands. In March 2005, Chinese, Filipino and Vietnamese oil companies signed an agreement to jointly explore the sea area. In 2007, China protested against the Vietnamese attempt to develop oil fields in the west of the sea.

The completion of the first Chinese aircraft carrier , the Liaoning , was seen as a geopolitical symbol in 2011 .

Events from 2012

On August 26, 2012, the Navy of the People's Republic rammed a Chinese flag into the bottom of the South China Sea by submarine. "Some countries may feel provoked, but that does not matter," said, according to Frankfurter Rundschau Zhao Junhai, scientists in the research submersible vessel Sea Dragon . This research vessel is looking for valuable minerals on the ocean floor.

Ships of the Chinese naval surveillance Haijian Badui and an allegedly specially converted Chinese fishing boat severed cables from Vietnamese, Norwegian and Filipino research vessels in the spheres of influence of Vietnam and the Philippines several times. The ships explored oil deposits in the China Sea.

As a sign of solidarity, five Russian-Chinese naval maneuvers a. a. held in the China Sea. Until 2012 they ran under the auspices of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), which also includes Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

In spring 2012, Beijing set a strategic example with a bilateral military exercise with Russia. The naval forces of both countries started a fleet maneuver in which the cooperation in the areas of air defense, sea supply, anti-submarine defense and others was practiced. In the exercises, which took place in two phases, several ships were Russian Pacific Fleet involved, including the missile cruiser Varyag , the destroyer Admiral Vinogradov , Marshal Shaposhnikov and the Admiral Tribuz the Northern Fleet and two supply ships. China sent two submarines and 16 warships to the exercise. The Deputy Chief of the Main Staff of the Russian Naval Forces said it was about methods of preventing military conflicts in exclusive economic zones.

Jakow Berger from the Russian Far East Institute stated with regard to the maneuver that Moscow and Beijing are basically not military allies, but that the timing of the maneuver would benefit China geostrategically.

China declared the purchase of uninhabited islands in the China Sea by Japan to be illegal and invalid. Chinese media called for economic sanctions against Japan. Chinese protesters called for a boycott of Japanese goods. Large Japanese electronics and car manufacturers such as Sony, Mitsubishi Electric, Toyota and Nissan sent their Chinese workers home for two days after numerous protests in China in September 2012. Japanese retail or fashion chains closed their stores in China as a precaution. There were arson attacks on dealers of Japanese makes of cars and some dealers received police protection. At the time, a fleet of Chinese fishermen was sailing in the fishing grounds near the disputed islands. Japanese news agencies reported, citing the Japanese coast guard, that eleven Chinese ships had advanced to Japanese territorial waters near Senkaku .

In 2014, from May to July, China carried out test drilling with the deep- sea ​​drilling island Haiyang Shiyou 981 in the disputed waters far south of the island of Hainan in the South China Sea. As a result, Chinese and Vietnamese ships clashed and anti-Chinese riots broke out in Vietnam.

On August 10, 2016, the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative published satellite images that were taken at the end of July 2016 and showed aircraft hangars on some islands claimed by the People's Republic of China. The hangars were located on the islands of Fiery Cross, Subi and Mischief Reefs and had an estimated capacity of up to 80 fighter jets after completion. The satellite images also showed buildings with a hexagonal structure, which analysts speculated on whether they could be missile defense systems. Vietnam has also been suspected of having advanced missile defense systems stationed on some Vietnamese-controlled islands.

Japan

The Japanese destroyer Yūdachi in 2012 in the South China Sea

As a result of the Second World War, former Japanese islands remained occupied even after their independence from the USA. It was only in 1972 that sovereignty over the Ryūkyū and the uninhabited Senkaku Islands was returned to Japan. In September 2012, Japan announced it had bought land from private owners on the uninhabited Senkaku Islands in the South China Sea. Beijing had previously warned Tokyo urgently to negotiate with the private owners to buy the uninhabited islands. Japan announced that it would take over the islands as soon as possible and control them in a peaceful and stable manner.

Chinese fishermen are repeatedly caught by Japanese patrols in the disputed sea areas.

With regard to the Spratly Islands, Japan has an interest in a stable situation, since 48 percent of Japanese trade and a high proportion of goods traffic to and from South Korea , Taiwan and Indonesia pass through the sea area. 70 percent of Japanese crude oil imports also come by the islands.

India

India is groping its way into the South China Sea by buying oil fields. The country supports smaller Southeast Asian neighbors in the exploitation of raw materials in the China Sea. China and India, as emerging great powers in Asia, have a difficult relationship, also for historical reasons. There are also territorial conflicts over Tibet and neighboring regions with the People's Republic.

India has good relations with Vietnam. The Indian government wants to use the shipyards of the Vietnamese state-owned company Vinashin for its fleet in Vietnam , as Saurav Jha wrote in Le Monde Diplomatique 2012. In return, India offers modern anti-ship missiles and other maritime cooperations. India's naval forces are known to cooperate with Japan, Australia , Indonesia and Singapore .

United States

In 2012 the USS George Washington was relocated to the Yellow Sea .

According to the FAZ, the USA regards the region as “the first bulwark against Beijing's striving for power” and has concluded agreements with individual Southeast Asian states on military and economic cooperation. The Americans see smaller countries, especially the Philippines, as guarantors of their claims.

The role and presence of the USA as a major power in the region goes back to World War II. The USA is allied with militarily well-equipped countries like South Korea and Japan. The USA maintains close security relations with Taiwan, Indonesia and the Philippines, and relations with Vietnam are being expanded.

The Seventh US Fleet in the Pacific was established during World War II and is so far the largest of all American fleets. It consists of 50–60 ships, 350 aircraft and 60,000 men. The tasks of the Seventh Fleet are, according to the official interpretation, the assistance in natural disasters and joint military operations, the operational command for all American naval units in the region and the defense of the Korean peninsula. Of the ships currently assigned to the Seventh Fleet, 18 operate from US bases in Japan and Guam , including the USS George Washington as America's only aircraft carrier permanently stationed outside the United States. These 18 ships are the central element of the American presence in Asia. The flagship of the Seventh Fleet is the command ship USS Blue Ridge , based in Yokosuka , Japan.

In July 2012, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton declared maritime law issues in the region to be a "US national interest". In early August 2012, the Pentagon demonstratively invited Vietnamese military to board a US warship. The ship passed through the South China Sea.

In 2012, the White House accused China of obstructing "freedom of navigation". The Chinese replied that 90,000 merchant ships move freely in the South China Sea annually. Both sides know that it is about US spy ships, which in turn are monitored and hindered by China.

In 2012, the US announced that it would transfer 60 percent of its navy to the Pacific.

In July 2020, the US Navy sent warships on so-called Freedom of Navigation voyages into the waters claimed by China. Washington thus demonstrated that it does not accept the so-called nine-dash line in the South China Sea, which is officially claimed by China as a land border. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called China's territorial claims illegal. The US warships operating in the sea area in July 2020 include the two aircraft carriers USS Nimitz and USS Ronald Reagan with their aircraft carrier combat groups , each with two guided missile cruisers , two to three guided missile destroyers , two hunting submarines and a logistical supply ship .

Philippines

The Philippines see themselves threatened by the superior China in the conflict over maritime sovereignty and have close military cooperation with the USA. Since 1991 the Philippine Navy has been carrying out the annual “Balikatan” (shoulder to shoulder) maneuver together with the US Navy. Around six thousand soldiers are involved in the combat and rescue exercises, which last several days.

Another ongoing conflict is the Philippines' claim to the Spratly Islands . In 1970 the Philippines moved in and occupied a total of eight islands, later other interested parties followed (Vietnam, Brunei, China).

In 2012 there were repeated clashes between the Philippine Navy and Chinese fishing boats or warships. In spring 2012, Filipinos wanted to arrest Chinese fishermen near the Scarborough Reef who are said to have hunted corals and green turtles there. A Chinese warship prevented the action. Both sides claim the atoll for themselves. The Philippines argue it is within their 200 mile EEZ . The Chinese, whose coast is a good 870 kilometers away, see fishing there as a common law.

Vietnam

Vietnam feels strongly threatened by China's claims. A large naval base of the Chinese People's Navy was built on the Chinese island of Hainan off the coast of Vietnam. The Yulin Naval Base is located east Sanya . Hainan Island is the headquarters of the Chinese Southern Navy Fleet of the People's Republic of the Navy. The construction activities at the naval base in the western world have been known since 2001 and in April 2008 the British journal Jane's Intelligence Review published more detailed satellite images of the huge facility for the first time.

Vietnam's navy holds maneuvers with the former enemy of the war, the USA. Vietnam claims large parts of the Spratly Islands as its territory, referring to its history. The islands passed from the Kingdom of Annam (1806 to 1860) through the French colonial period (until 1945) to Vietnam.

In 2007, Vietnamese anti-aircraft gunmen shot at a Philippine reconnaissance aircraft on the Tennant Reef .

In 2012, in addition to sharp exchanges between China and Vietnam, there was an incident when, according to Vietnamese information, one of two Chinese patrol boats accompanying a Chinese fishing boat deliberately cut some cables on a Vietnamese oil exploration ship. Hanoi responds with target practice in the region. Beijing accused Vietnam of violating Chinese sovereignty rights.

Australia

In response to the ongoing sovereignty disputes in the South China Sea, the Australian government announced in a white paper published on February 25, 2016, that it would significantly increase sea armament over the next two decades. In the White Paper, all parties to the conflict in the South China Sea were called upon to enter into a constructive dialogue. Australia rejects the artificial creation of islands, also for military purposes and the territorial claims based on them. At the same time, the partnership between Australia and the United States was confirmed in the White Paper. In response to the white paper, a spokeswoman for Chinese Foreign Minister Hua Chunying said that China was “dissatisfied” with the “negative” comments made in the white paper.

ASEAN

Some of the small neighboring countries also rely on the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), which was once founded as a defense alliance, for protection . In 2002, after talks between ASEAN and China, an agreement on “rules of conduct” in the South China Sea was reached. In 2003 there was a declaration of a temporary construction freeze on the Spratly Islands. In the federal government, however, the situation is not clear either, since it includes countries like Cambodia that receive investment and development aid from China. This was also the reason why, for the first time in the history of the federal government founded in 1977, no final declaration was made after the meeting of its foreign ministers in 2012.

Legal situation

The 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea provides for an Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) that extends a maximum of 200 nautical miles from the coast of a state. This also applies to the islands of a state. This raises questions about what an island is in the legal sense and how an island is to be delimited from other land formations in the sea, for example from rocks or from dry elevations. The latter do not allow any rights to the neighboring sea areas despite belonging to a state. These legal questions have not yet been decided. More than 100 land formations in the South China Sea are now claimed by the neighboring countries. Some land formations are being fortified, expanded and made into bases in order to gain access to the rights of an EEZ.

Economic zone of the Spratley Islands Panganiban, Ayungin and Recto

On 22 January 2013, the Government of the Philippines called one the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague located somewhere arbitration on to their claims to islands and reefs enforce, which are also claimed by China. In doing so, she relied on the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) . Thomas Mensah (Ghana; chairman), Jean-Pierre Cot (France), Stanisław Pawlak (Poland), Alfred Soons (Netherlands) and Rüdiger Wolfrum (Germany) were appointed referees . On July 12, 2016, the arbitral tribunal ruled that Panganiban (Mischief Reef), Ayungin (Second Thomas Shoal) and Recto (Reed Bank off Palawan ) belonged to the exclusive economic zone of the Philippines, but not Panatag ( Scarborough Reef ). Panatag's fishing grounds are traditionally used by several countries; neither China nor the Philippines should prevent others from fishing there.

The government of the Philippines welcomed the verdict, while the representatives of the People's Republic of China declared it unfounded and non-binding.

See also

Web links

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Goruma 2010
  2. ↑ a b Saber rattles over the sea. FAZ, August 11, 2012.
  3. ^ Game of chess on the sea. Die Zeit, April 25, 2011.
  4. ↑ Spiegel article from October 27, 2015, accessed on October 29, 2015
  5. ↑ Chinese jets landed on Coral Island , DW, May 19, 2018
  6. ↑ NZZ , May 29, 2018, page 2
  7. ↑ Ingo Nentwig : When the facts disturb . In: Junge Welt from September 18, 2012 on AG Peace Research. Retrieved December 6, 2013.
  8. ↑ Dangerous Skirmishes in the South China Sea. - China is in an open territorial conflict with Vietnam. The sensitive dispute is about raw materials - and about supremacy in the region. , The time of June 15, 2011
  9. ↑ Chinese jets landed on Coral Island , DW, May 19, 2018
  10. ↑ NZZ , May 29, 2018, page 2
  11. ^ "Sea dragon" cannot be stopped , Frankfurter Rundschau, August 27, 2010
  12. ↑ Saber rattling on the high seas: Russia and China move into the maneuver - "Nesavissimaja Gazeta" , RIA Novosti, April 23, 2012
  13. ↑ https://www.welt.de/newsticker/dpa_nt/infoline_nt/brennpunkte_nt/article109289777/Bislang-groesste-anti-japanische-Protestwelle-rollt-ueber-China.html
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  15. ^ Article in the FAZ of July 16, 2014, accessed on February 28, 2015
  16. ↑ What do 'hangars' on disputed islands in the South China Sea tell us? BBC News, August 10, 2016, accessed August 10, 2016 .
  17. ↑ The Great Power Game on the Pacific , Die Zeit, August 12, 2011
  18. ↑ An overview of the China-USA confrontation Focus from July 25, 2020, accessed on July 25, 2020
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  20. ↑ Defense White Paper: Australia joins Asia's arms race with spending on weaponry and military forces to reach $ 195b. ABC News, February 25, 2016, accessed February 25, 2016 .
  21. ↑ 2016 Defense White Paper. Department of Defense of Australia, February 25, 2016, accessed February 25, 2016 .
  22. ↑ Eliza Borrello: South China Sea: Beijing 'dissatisfied' with 'negative' remarks in Australia's Defense White Paper. ABC News, February 25, 2016, accessed February 25, 2016 .
  23. ↑ UN court rules: China violated Philippine rights. The Philippine Star, July 13, 2016
  24. ↑ The arbitration court rejects China's claims. Der Tagesspiegel , July 12, 2016, accessed on July 12, 2016 .
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