After the court’s ruling on 12 July 2016, China, not surprisingly, refused to recognise the court’s decision and continued to build military bases on remote islands and reefs with implications that reach far beyond Asia. In all, Beijing now has more than twenty-five militarised outposts with sophisticated weaponry on both sides of a trade route that is central to the global economy.
The South China Sea has become a strait of sorts. To the east, the bases are concentrated on the Spratly Island chain; to the west on the Paracel Islands. With a blend of military muscle and diplomacy, China now controls a waterway that carries more than ten times the traffic of the fractious Strait of Hormuz and at least as much oil and gas. […]
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