Every change in the islands and reefs of the South China Sea is exciting, especially the Spratly Islands.
These small islands may be very common if they are located near the coast of the mainland, but located in the Spratly Sea, even if only 1 square meter of sea surface is of great strategic value.
Why?
Open the map of the South China Sea Zhudao, you will find that the South China Sea spans about 2,000 kilometers from north to south, about 1,000 kilometers from east to west, and the natural sea area reaches more than 3.5 million square kilometers, containing rich marine oil and gas, mineral resources and rich fishery resources.
Map of the South China Sea Islands
The dotted line of the South China Sea extends the mainland territory to the south for about 2,000 kilometers, such a vast piece of marine land within the discontinuous line, but now there are constant disputes, a large number of islands and reefs in the Nansha are occupied by neighboring countries, with the support of extraterritorial countries, since the 1970s, many neighboring countries have questioned China's sovereignty, sovereign rights and jurisdiction, an important reason is the discovery of rich oil resources in the South China Sea.
In the face of such a situation, only by actually controlling and building islands and reefs in the South China Sea, especially the construction of Nansha islands and reefs, is almost equivalent to turning the South China Sea into China's inland sea.
Therefore, even the islands and reefs of the Nansha Islands that are only 1 square meter exposed to the sea are of great strategic value, and every change in our presence on the islands and reefs is gratifying.
The northern part of the South China Sea is not a big problem, it is close to the mainland and the Paracel Islands are all under our actual control, but the trouble is that the Nansha Islands, due to complicated reasons, when we turned back to operate and build, we found that the islands and reefs that were exposed to the water were basically encroached upon.
It is a matter of territorial sovereignty, the role of verbal claims is limited, watching the islands and reefs being occupied in large quantities, and Chinese mainland has no foothold in the Nansha, the whip is beyond reach, and the situation is too passive.
In 1987, at the request of UNESCO, the Chinese government decided to establish a marine observatory at Yongju Reef in the Spratly Islands, and the Chinese Navy encountered Vietnamese provocations during its inspection of Chigua Reef: Chinese troops returned fire and the famous Battle of Chigua Reef broke out.
In the face of crisis, China has never lacked heroes.
At that time, General Chen Weiwen, the military commander in charge of the front line of the conflict, immediately made a decision in the face of provocation and said to the soldiers: "Comrades, if the superiors think that this battle is fought correctly and won, I will give you credit; if there is any problem, I am responsible alone!" ”
The Chinese navy resolutely returned fire, sinking 2 Vietnamese ships in tens of minutes, seriously damaging 1, and the Vietnamese navy suffered about 400 casualties.
The Chinese Navy took advantage of the victory to recover 9 islands and reefs, and the seven islands of Nansha that China is now stationed on, except for Mischief Island, were all recovered in the Battle of Nansha. Subsequently, the admirals used four bamboo poles to support several mats, and the first generation of tall houses erected by several tarpaulins ended the history of No garrison in Nansha.
Map of the location of the Seven Reefs of the Nansha Garrison
Warriors of Chigua Reef who hold on to their stilt houses
It is precisely because of the persistence of these islands and reefs that China has the opportunity to fill in the seven reefs stationed in the sea into large islands, completely reversing China's passive situation in the Nansha sea.
Nowadays, it seems that the merits of General Chen Weiwen can be compared with Han Xianchu's recovery of Hainan Island, in fact, General Chen Weiwen participated in 6 naval battles in his lifetime, all of which were victorious, and foreign media gave him the title of "General of Constant Victory".
The situation of the main islands and reefs of the Nansha Islands has changed in favor of China
Located more than 1,200 kilometers from the mainland, Chigua Reef is the first line to protect maritime territorial sovereignty. After the second generation of stilt houses and the third generation of reinforced concrete reef forts, the garrison conditions of the third generation reef forts have been substantially improved, at least to sleep peacefully at night of typhoons, and satellite communication facilities have been installed on the reef forts.
Chigua Reef third generation reinforced concrete reef fort
Chigua Reef third generation reinforced concrete reef fort
As if fate had predestined it, the site of the Battle of the Paracels was also the first island in China to begin the process of changing from reef to island. According to public information, chigua island started construction on January 22, 2014, Huayang Island started on March 8, 2014, Dongmen Island started on April 5, 2014, Nankao Island started construction on June 6, 2014, Fiery Cross Island started on August 24, 2014, Subi Island started on January 26, 2015, and Mischief Island started construction on January 16, 2015.
Reclamation of Chigua Reef
In 2016, Contemporary Naval Magazine published a panoramic map of the port of Chigua Reef, which shows that the foundation facility has been completed in less than two years.
Due to the proximity of Chigua Island and the Vietnamese occupation of Dyed Green Sandbar, Ghost Shout Reef and Qiong Reef, ChiGua Island's construction standards are extremely high, both offensive and defensive, and the tall buildings transfer huge psychological pressure to the nearby Vietnamese defenders.
Chigua Reef Pier
The area of Chigua Island after blowing and filling has expanded hundreds of times compared with the third generation of high reinforced concrete reef forts, reaching 0.102 square kilometers of about 150 acres.
Aerial view of Chigua Island
A large complex and a 50-meter-high lighthouse were built on the island, as well as a marina and a large helicopter landing platform.
The island's infrastructure has also been gradually improved, with photovoltaic power generation, wind power generation, desalination, communication towers and so on.
Chigua Island Complex and Lighthouse
Chigua Island photovoltaic and wind power station
On March 20, 2020, a U.S. P-8A anti-submarine aircraft went to the airspace of the South China Sea, on which sat Admiral Aquilino, commander of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, who photographed the seven islands of Nansha almost once, and from the footage of the US reconnaissance plane, it can be seen that Chigua Island has undergone another amazing change, that is, the greening project that was completed in the southernmost part of the reef was completed by the officers and men guarding the island in less than eight years.
The lush trees make Chigua Island look vibrant and full of life.
Aerial photo of Chigua Island on March 20, 2022
Up close-up view of Chigua Island
To make up for the shortcomings of the artificial island's lack of greenery, Chigua Island immediately became a delicate tropical town, looking like a castle floating on the sea from a distance, with tall plants such as casuarina, coconut trees, palm trees and other tall plants planted on the shore, and the warriors of the new island have not experienced the hardships of the stilt house era.
The more the ghost shouts the reef overlooks Chigua Island
Soldier of the Chigua Island Garrison
The changes on Chigua Island are gratifying, but the South China Sea, as an important hub connecting three continents and communicating two oceans, is known as the "Asian Mediterranean", and the pattern of the seven islands of The Paracel Islands, where China is now stationed, still cannot fully control the South China Sea.
Huangyan Island in Zhongsha, Wan'an Beach in the southwest and Qiongtai Reef further south are all strategic places, and perhaps in the near future, these places will also become new sea cities for naval garrisons.
Huangyan Island, Wan'an Beach, Qiongtai Reef location
In fact, the southernmost Qiongtai Reef is already a large natural island, reaching an altitude of 9 meters at low tide, and there is vegetation growing on the island.
Aerial view of Qiongtai Reef
Qiongtai Reef has been a traditional Chinese fishing ground since ancient times, and the shallow water area of the reef can reach several square kilometers, which is very easy to blow sand to fill the island.
In 2010, a team from China National Geographic boarded Qiongtai Reef and found that the waters were crystal clear and suitable for building a diving base.
In 2016, the Malaysian Coast Guard proposed to establish an ocean park in Qiongtai Reef for tourism, but such a strategic location, the Malaysian government may not have another chance, because for many years, the Chinese navy took advantage of the somali escort and search and rescue of Malaysia Airlines MH370 missing opportunity, and continued to cruise the waters until normalization.
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