TWO YEARS AGO, THIS DISPUTED REEF IN THE SOUTH CHINA SEA WAS LITTLE MORE THAN A COUPLE OF ROCKS AND A TINY WEATHER STATION. THEN CHINA DUG IN. NOW IT HAS A RUNNING TRACK, BASKETBALL COURTS—AND A RUNWAY THAT CAN HANDLE MILITARY JETS.
In the South China Sea, near the reefs known as Mischief and North Danger, a detachment of seven Philippine soldiers and seven dogs guard a coral-fringed sandbar. The cay is called Flat Island, but the “island” part is a bit misleading.
A leisurely stroll around the second smallest islet of the Spratlys—a scattering of rocks, reefs, shoals and islands flung across the South China Sea—takes just minutes. Since the Philippine navy sends fresh water, fuel and other provisions only once every two months, the soldiers must survive on their spearfishing catch and filched seagull eggs. “It’s a beach resort,” says Corporal Ariel Lego, “with no resort.”
Flat Island is too hot, too salty and too small to sustain human life. Yet this spit of sand outfitted with nothing more than a pair of concrete garrisons and a wooden hut is claimed by four governments: China’s, Vietnam’s, Taiwan’s and that of the Philippines, which occupies it. For years, activity around this isolated outpost, a full day’s sail from the Philippine island of Palawan, was limited to perhaps a daily pass by a Chinese, Vietnamese or Philippine fishing trawler. But in early May, Chinese coast guard vessels glided past Flat Island, part of an increasingly visible and adventurous maritime foray by the region’s biggest power.
A few days later, on May 10, a U.S. guided-missile destroyer cruised past Fiery Cross Reef, another disputed Spratly feature. Once just two rocks jutting out at high tide, the shoal has been transformed into a 680-acre (275 hectare) landmass, one of seven artificial islands the Chinese have constructed in the South China Sea since 2014. Passing within 12 nautical miles of Fiery Cross, the U.S.S. William P. Lawrence engaged in what the Pentagon terms a “freedom-of-navigation operation [to] challenge excessive maritime claims.” Beijing responded by scrambling fighter jets, protesting that the U.S. warship had “illegally entered waters near the relevant reef . . . and jeopardized regional peace and stability.” An op-ed in the state-run
