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On February 21, 1987, the 14th Annual Session of the IOC at UNESCO Headquarters adopted the Global Planar Joint Survey Plan, requiring China to establish five marine observation stations in the Nansha Islands, marking a historic moment when Chinese mainland officially began the substantive development of the Spratlys.
These requirements include the construction of three observation stations off the coast of the mainland and one each in the Paracel and Spratly Islands. Among them, the marine observatory in the Spratly Islands is numbered 74, which has become a key link in this plan.
However, Vietnam initially supported the plan, but as China began to select sites and design marine observatories, the Vietnamese government abruptly reversed its position, replaced the delegates who voted in favor of the IOC and issued a statement interfering with China's establishment of the No. 74 marine observatory in the Spratly Islands.
Since the construction of the No. 74 Ocean Observatory, Vietnam has adopted three different countermeasures, becoming the biggest external resistance to China's development of the Spratly Islands.
First, Vietnamese armed forces obstructed China's construction efforts, triggering the 1988 Battle of the Spratlys. The Chinese Navy sent ships to the Spratly Islands to conduct site surveys, and finally selected Fiery Cross Reef as the location of the No. 74 marine observation station. In the process, China took control of Cuarteron Reef, 40 nautical miles south of Fiery Cross Reef, which became the first Chinese mainland to control Spratlys. The design of Marine Observatory 74 at Fiery Cross Reef was completed in December 1987 and construction is scheduled to begin in February 1988. However, the Vietnamese government suddenly sent armed ships against China in an attempt to thwart the task of building stations and controlling the islands.
On January 31, 1988, a Vietnamese naval transport ship loaded with construction materials and personnel set sail from West Reef in an attempt to preemptively establish a stronghold on Fiery Cross Reef, but was driven away by a Chinese naval escort group. On the Chinese New Year's Eve of the lunar calendar, the first stilt house on Fiery Cross Reef was built, and Chinese marines were stationed immediately. The Vietnamese Navy's minesweeper No. 851 and armed transport No. 614 also came to the southwestern tip of Cuarteron Reef in the Spratly Spratly to confront Chinese naval vessels. Although Vietnam tried to seize the sovereign high ground of Cuarteron Reef, it was eventually forced to retreat due to bad weather and rising tides. Chinese reef guards held out for more than 40 hours, while construction crews built the first generation of stilt houses on Cuarteron Reef in just 10 hours.
Although the first generation of stilt houses at Cuarteron Reef was built two days later than Fiery Cross Reef, a week later, Cuarteron Reef welcomed eight Marine soldiers for the first time. The Vietnamese Navy's minesweeper No. 851 and armed transport No. 614, which had retreated from Hua Duong, entered Fiery Cross Reef to provoke the provocation, but were eventually driven away by the Chinese naval ship formation.
On March 12, 1988, Vietnamese troops attacked Chek Kwa Reef and Hong Xiu Island, respectively, with the former preparing to occupy Chikwa Reef. Vietnamese Navy transport No. 604 attempted to land on Chek Kwa Reef, but Chinese soldiers quickly opened fire and counterattacked, sinking the Vietnamese Navy transport No. 604, damaging the No. 605 transport, and severely damaging the No. 505 landing ship. Vietnam suffered heavy losses, and China successfully controlled and stationed Chikwa Reef.
After the war, the construction of the Fiery Cross Reef Marine Observatory proceeded smoothly. The construction personnel ate humble meals, lived in simple buildings, endured the scorching sun, and tried their best to meet the construction deadline. In order to speed up the progress of the project, they even transported cement to the reclaimed area by hand, with the slogan "Fight hard, take 800 tons of cement"! On August 2, 1988, after more than 180 days and nights of efforts by all construction personnel, the first Fiery Cross Reef Marine Observatory established by China in Nansha was successfully completed. The observatory includes a 4,000-ton pier, roads, pitches, coconut trees and modern instrumentation.
In addition, the Chinese Navy has stationed six islands and reefs, including Dongmen Reef, Gaven Reef and Subi Reef, filling the gap in China's actual control over the Nansha Islands.
In addition to armed confrontation, Vietnam has adopted a second countermeasure, that is, retaliation for the occupation of China's Nansha islands and reefs. Since the 70s of the 20th century, Nansha Qundao has been subjected to large-scale invasion by neighboring countries
As a result, the islands and sandbars of the Nansha Qundao gradually decreased, and only Taiping Island, which was garrisoned in Taiwan, still retained better conditions.
From July 1973 to December 1974, South Vietnam invaded and occupied six islands and reefs, including Nam Ton Island, Dunchen Sandbar, Hong Xiu Island, King Hong Island, Spratly Island and An Bo Sandbar. On April 26, 1975, North Vietnam took over the six islands and reefs from South Vietnam. However, in 1988, the Vietnamese army once again seized five islands and reefs, including West Reef, Wuyi Reef, Riji Reef, Daxian Reef and East Reef in China's Nansha Qundao. After this naval battle, Vietnam retaliated and occupied a total of 6 islands and reefs, including Nanhua Reef, Liumen Reef, Devil Shout Reef, Qiong Reef, and Nairo Reef. In fact, in 1988 alone, Vietnam retaliated by occupying 11 Chinese islands and reefs in the Spratlys because it could not stop China's station construction and failed naval battle in the Spratlys.
Since then, Vietnam has also successively encroached on the dark beaches of Lee Jun Beach, Vanguard Bank and Quang Ya Beach, which have rich oil and gas resources. According to statistics, Vietnam has invaded and occupied a total of 29 islands and reefs in the mainland's Nansha Qundao and illegally set up 51 strongholds, forming a situation of encircling the mainland's Nansha Islands and reefs.
The third countermeasure is the continued large-scale expansion of the occupied islands and reefs. Vietnam not only encroached on the most islands and reefs, but also managed the most well. As early as 2004, Vietnam began illegally expanding and building an airport on Spratly Island. Since then, Vietnam has completed more than a dozen expansion projects of occupied islands and reefs, trying to permanently occupy the Spratly islands and reefs.
In order to reverse the passive situation, China has been reclaiming land on the seven reefs of Nansha since early 2014, the earliest of which was Chigua Reef, which began construction on January 22, 2014, followed by Huayang Island, Dongmen Island, Nanxue Island, Fiery Cross Island, Mischief Island and Subi Island. Land reclamation projects for these reefs include the construction of concrete revetments, road paving, afforestation and the installation of modern equipment.
After the completion of the land reclamation project, China's Nansha Seven Islands were completed, a mega project that changed China's passive situation in the Nansha Sea. China's expansion has inspired retaliatory moves by Vietnam, which not only cannot stop, but has been expanding round after round of large-scale expansion, including the islands and reefs of Lifeng Reef, Wu Cheng Jiao, Hong Huo Island and Dunkhon Sandbar, which will expand several times when completed. Vietnam's strategic ambitions are becoming more pronounced, especially in the Southeast Spratly region.
The fundamental starting point of China's South China Sea policy is to safeguard China's sovereignty, security and maritime rights and interests. China has always adhered to the principle of static braking and rear-attacking, but with Vietnam's large-scale expansion in the Spratly Islands, the conditions may be ripe for a late-strike strike. The confrontation and struggle between the two sides continue to escalate, and the future situation is still full of uncertainty, which requires close attention and observation.
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