China yesterday announced the formation of a new city “Sansha” in the South China Sea on the Yongxing Island (Woody Island) which was claimed by Vietnam and the Philippines. Beijing reaffirmed its determination to take control of undersea oil reserves. At the same time there has been simmering territorial dispute with Japan. According to experts, the key of China’s strategy is to build a strong navy.
On Tuesday, an official ceremony to create city of Sansha gathering just over 1,000 people on the archipelago of the Spratlys.
The authorities has appointed Sansha’s Party secretary of the Communist Party, the actual head of the new city district level. The jurisdiction of the county will also be distributed to the islands of the archipelago.
Central Military Commission in Beijing announced that with the formation of a new municipality, a military garrison was created. It will be responsible for the security in the waters of the islands of the archipelago.
It takes 13 hours to reach the island from the mainland by sea. There are post office, bank, supermarket and hospital.
In the conflict over the South China Sea, Beijing has achieved a diplomatic success. It managed to split the ASEAN – the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. Some of these countries did not support Vietnam and the Philippines.