China says 'no such thing' as man-made islands in South China Sea

Fascinating. Generally, undeveloped resources located outside the recognized land mass of established nations are up for grabs (except, of course, in rare instances such as Antarctica where it is protected and open for scientific use only by all nations by virtue of treaties imposed by nations with the force to hold others at bay). I suspect that these sea mounts, some of which are briefly and partially exposed at low Spring Tide, have traditionally served as fishing grounds by all surrounding nations and that China will limit such access now that they have a claim to "territorial waters" surrounding them. I'm guessing that's the root of the problem. However, I think that China has another problem: Maintaining their "islands" against the ravages of the sea. An island built of sand is a very temporary thing at best. Just look at the popular beach resorts of the East Coast where sand must be dumped regularly to continue claiming to be "beaches". Wind and surf have no respect for such masses. It puts me in mind of the Race Riots in Baltimore during the 1960s when the streets were occupied and the police took to the roof tops to maintain control. When asked why the police didn't push the unruly crowds from the streets, the chief responded that they didn't have to. It was heating up down there as the day progressed and they would remove themselves when it got hot enough on the asphalt. I suspect we may do the same with China and their "islands". Just let nature take its course.

SSgt GG-15 RET Jim Lint fortunately we've been keeping a good eye on things there. And we have a pretty good ally in Taiwan - which we seemed to be neglecting for a decade or so.