Is Indian Ocean next for China reclamation?

MANILA, Philippines - Now it’s the Indians’ turn to worry about Chinese island reclamation activities.

A recent move by Maldives on foreign ownership has raised concern among some Indians that China may soon launch an island reclamation project in the Indian Ocean, aside from its ongoing massive island building projects in the South China Sea.

China has brushed aside the speculation.

In Manila, US Ambassador Philip Goldberg said China should stop its reclamation activities in the South China Sea to reduce regional tension.

“We work very closely. The Philippines is our oldest ally. We do a lot together and we talk a lot about the South China Sea and about other issues as the Philippines tries to develop its own minimum credible defense,” Goldberg said in a radio interview with dzRJ.

China has created some 2,000 acres of artificial landmass in the seven islets and reefs they have occupying since 2013 in the South China Sea. US officials said the indications are that the artificial islands would be used for military purposes.

Philippine officials revealed that China had destroyed 10 more reefs and used them as filling materials for its seven man-made islands in the disputed waters.

An article this week in the US-based The National Interest expressed concern that China may be planning to expand its island building to the Indian Ocean after Maldives last week allowed foreign ownership of its territory.

The Maldives government approved an amendment in its constitution that allows foreign investors with over $1 billion to own land, provided that at least 70 percent of the land is reclaimed from the sea.

India, however, expressed concern over this development.

India, which traditionally has strong ties with the Maldives and Sri Lanka, has been concerned about China’s growing involvement in the Indian Ocean as it opens its purse strings and builds a network of ports dubbed the String of Pearls.

Unnamed Indian officials said they are concerned that China would seize the opportunity to expand the Maldives’ 1,200 islands, which are located strategically in the Indian Ocean.

Eva Abdullah, one of just 14 parliamentarians who voted against the amendment in the Maldives’ constitution, said “this will make the country a Chinese colony.”

“What I fear is that we are paving the way for the establishment of Chinese bases in the Maldives and making the country a frontline state between India and China, thereby disturbing the current balance of power in the Indian Ocean. We cannot ignore the increasing rivalry between India and China,” she told The Diplomat.

The opposition Maldivian Democratic Party said the bill could give “unprecedented access to foreign parties to operate in the Maldives.”

One party member said the government was facilitating a more robust Chinese presence in the Indian Ocean.

China’s Foreign Ministry, in a statement, said the vote was an internal matter for the Maldives, but that China wanted good relations with the country, best known for its luxury diving resorts.

China “has always respected and supported the Maldives’ efforts to maintain its sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity,” the ministry said.

“What the relevant people said about China building bases in the Maldives is totally baseless,” it added.

In September last year, during a visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping, the Maldives signed a deal with a Chinese company to upgrade its international airport after cancelling a $511-million deal with India’s GMR Infrastructure in 2012.

In an effort to dampen fears about Chinese plans connected to its increasingly modern and confident military, Beijing has repeatedly said it does not want military bases abroad.

But experts have said China is likely one day to have to overcome its discomfort about overseas military bases, as its forces are drawn into protecting the growing interests of the world’s second-largest economy.

The master plan

China has been claiming virtually the whole South China Sea by asserting its historical right over the islands and reefs within the maritime region.

To protect those rights, China has embarked on massive reclamation projects by building artificial islands, with some large enough to accommodate runways for military aircraft.

According to Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio, China’s reclamation activities in the region have been a long-time plan only put into motion after it had the money and the sources.

“China has damaged 10 other reefs for filling material for the seven reefs (where it built seven man-made islands). They actually destroyed a total of 17 reefs,” Carpio told a forum hosted by the Department of National Defense at Camp Aguinaldo yesterday.

Carpio is a member of a Philippine legal team representing the country in its arbitration case against China before the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague.  – Rainier Allan Ronda, Jaime Laude, Alexis Romero, Reuters