"Η Κίνα επιχειρεί τον έλεγχο της Νότιας Θάλασας"

DigitalGlobe imagery from 16 March 2015 shows significant construction and dredging underway at Mischief Reef. Source: Photo DigitalGlobe via Getty Images

China’s island building program in the South China Sea may result in it gaining control of some of the world’s most important waterways, the U.S.’s most senior military commander for Asia said.

“If this activity continues at pace, is that it -- those would give them de facto control” of the maritime territory they claim, Admiral Samuel Locklear, head of the U.S. Pacific Command, told the U.S. Senate. Locklear said China could install long-range detection radars, base warships and warplanes on the islands, potentially giving it the ability to enforce an air defense identification zone.

Satellite photos this month showed images of Chinese dredgers at work at Mischief Reef in the Spratly Islands, a feature also claimed by Vietnam, the Philippines and Taiwan. President Barack Obama said April 10 that the U.S. is concerned that China is using its “muscle and power” to dominate smaller countries in the region.

Locklear said the pace of China’s building program was “astonishing” and added that the islands would improve China’s ability to locate a maritime security force in the waters that would be larger than the combined coast guards of the Southeast Asian countries.

China claims about four-fifths of the South China Sea, home to some of the world’s busiest shipping lanes, under a so-called nine-dash line drawn on a 1940s map. Vietnam, the Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei also claim territory in the waters.

Για περισσότερα Bloomberg