China May Add A Nuclear Element To Disputes In The South China Sea

A Pentagon report has issued a warning over China’s plans to power man-made islands and reefs in the South China Sea with floating nuclear power plants, arguing it ‘may add a nuclear element to the territorial disputes’ in the area. The annual report by the U.S. Defense Department, Military and Security Developments Involving the People’s Republic of China, found that at three of the seven artificial islands China occupies, there was construction underway to ensure the outposts were ‘capable of supporting military operation in the Spratly Islands and throughout the region.’ The Pentagon reported that development was set to begin prior to 2020.

The report emphasizes China’s attempts to expand its global influence, citing that Chinese defense spending in 2017 exceeded $US 190 billion, a point of concern for the U.S. It comes at a time of increased tensions between the U.S. and China as the trade war between the two countries escalates. Earlier in the month senior administration officials told reporters that President Trump was investigating the possibility of imposing a 25% tariff on $US 200 billion worth of Chinese imports into the U.S., a 15% increase from the original tariff proposed. Last week, talks aimed at cooling off the tensions in the tit-for-tat trade war ended without any major breakthroughs being made.

Last week at a forum in Taipei promoting a free and open Indo-Pacific region, James Stavridis, a former NATO supreme allied commander, recommended countries in the region take collective action against China using dialogue and diplomacy. He told attendees that the construction of artificial islands in the South China Sea and China’s militarization of those islands is ‘the biggest geostrategic challenge in the region’ and had the potential to lead to serious conflict.

In 2016, a state-run financial newspaper, The China Securities Journal, reported that China could construct as many as twenty floating nuclear power stations in the South China Sea as a means of ‘speeding up the commercial development.’ Nuclear plans were further suggested late last year when the state-owned China National Nuclear Plant announced that in order to increase the country’s nuclear-power capabilities, it had set up a joint venture with energy and ship-building firms. The venture was lauded as a crucial step in China’s goal to ‘become a strong maritime power.’

A military expert at Singapore’s Nanyang Technology University, Collin Koh, told The South China Morning Post, ‘China sees securing the ability to develop marine nuclear tech as a manifestation of its maritime power status. It will enhance Beijing’s staying power.’ However, experts say that the novelty of the technology for floating plants poses serious challenges in terms of regulating the operational safety, which could lead to dangerous accidents caused by collisions or capsizing.

China claims more than 80% of the South China Sea, a route through which an estimated $3.4 trillion worth of global trade, travels annually and is a resource-rich marine area. However, the Sea is subject to competing claims with five other nations; Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan, Vietnam and the Philippines.

The Philippines have expressed concern over China’s possible plans of nuclear deployment, citing the ASEAN treaty that designates the area as a nuclear-free zone. Philippines Presidential spokesman Harry Roque told reporters in Manila, ‘We are concerned about the possibility that any foreign power, be it American, Russian, Chinese may bring nuclear warheads into our territory and into ASEAN.’

Although China has a no-first use policy when it comes to nuclear weapons that states it will not use nuclear forces to threaten non-nuclear states and in nuclear-free zones, concern remains high that an increase in the country’s nuclear capabilities could reshape the way conflict is articulated in the region.

Daisy D'Souza

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