China set to escalate territorial rows
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JANUARY 14, 2013 04:36.
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China has increased from 29 to more than 130 the number of islands and coral reefs in the South China Sea and the East China Sea marked as Chinese territory in its official publication "Full Map of the People’s Republic of China."
The move will likely escalate territorial disputes with neighboring countries such as Vietnam and the Philippines over islands and coral reefs.
According to China’s official Xinhua News Agency on Saturday, the vertical edition of the map put out by Sinomaps Press, a Chinese map publisher, at the request of the state geology bureau, will be distributed from next month. The map specifically identifies the locations and names of more than 130 islands, islets and coral reefs within the Dongsha, Nansha, Xisha and Zhongsha Islands in the South China Sea.
China`s Asian neighbors will likely strongly protest the move because Beijing is apparently strengthening its territorial claims. Last year, the Chinese government launched a Sansha office to supervise the four islands and enacted legislation to allow authorities to crack down on illegal activities by foreign ships in the South China Sea.
In last year’s second half, Beijing inserted a map that includes maps of disputed territories in its new electronic passports, provoking anger from its neighboring countries. To counter the move, Vietnam also declared an Oceanic Act to claim certain islands in the South China Sea as its own. The Philippines is also gearing up to step up its protest, saying it will not allow China to seize Scarborough Shoal, which China refers to as Huangyan Island.
In a separate move, Beijing announced high-tech weapons development by the People`s Liberation Army, including strategic missiles and stealth fighters. On a prime-time news show Saturday night, the state-run CCTV reported on a missile drill recently conducted by China`s 2nd Artillery Division, a strategic missile unit.
The Global Times, an international affairs newspaper published by the People’s Daily, the official newspaper of the Chinese Communist Party, on Sunday carried photos of missile firing by the Jian-20, China’s first stealth fighter.
