Japan Institute for National Fundamentals

　　　　　On May 13, the U.S. Department of Defense released an annual report on Chinese military power. It indicated a high alertness to Chinese military trends, citing three new developments in 2015 -- (1) beginning to build military facilities on artificial islands in the South China Sea, (2) announcing a plan to set up a military facility in the East African country of Djibouti to globally expand China’s military presence, and (3) implementing large-scale military reforms.

3,200-acre-wide artificial islands
　　　　　The report says China completed major land reclamation at seven reefs of the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea by October 2015, reclaiming land totaling 3,200 acres or 13 square kilometers in two years. China has installed communications and surveillance systems and logistic support facilities on four of the seven and 9,800-foot-long or 3,000-meter-long runways and large ports on three.
　　　　　In the East China Sea, including the Senkaku Islands, and the South China Sea, China is trying to build military capabilities to counter U.S. intervention in the long term while taking care to avoid armed conflict with the United States in the near term. The report indicates a sense of crisis, saying, “China’s military modernization is producing capabilities that have the potential to reduce core U.S. military technological advantages.”
　　　　　On China’s November 2015 public confirmation of its intention to build its first overseas military support facility in Djibouti, the report pays attention to the facility’s geopolitical implications. “This Chinese initiative both reflects and amplifies China’s growing geopolitical clout, extending the reach of its influence and armed forces.”
　　　　　In the large-scale military reforms, the People’s Liberation Army transitioned from its seven “military regions” to five “theaters of operations” and created the Strategic Support Force reportedly to oversee its space and cyber capabilities. The Pentagon report described the reorganization as “the most significant reforms of the PLA in at least three decades” to enable more advanced joint operations and enhance the Communist Party’s control on the military.

Preparation for further land reclamation?
　　　　　Apart from the seven reefs, China has recently dispatched survey ships to the South China Sea’s Scarborough Shoal that China took from the Philippines in 2012, indicating that it could conduct land reclamation there. The Pentagon report falls short of touching on this possibility. If military facilities are built on the shoal, only 200 kilometers from the Philippine mainland, these facilities and those on the Spratly and Paracel Islands will form a triangle of Chinese maritime military facilities in the South China Sea. The United States is uneasy about the move.
　　　　　On May 10 prior to the report’s release, the Pentagon conducted its third freedom of navigation operation since China’s artificial island construction caused controversies, sending a guided-missile destroyer, the USS William Lawrence, to pass through waters within 12 nautical miles from Fiery Cross Reef, one of the seven reefs. The reef represents the first artificial island with a 3,000-meter runway completed. The latest operation may have been designed to check the runway construction and China’s new actions regarding the Scarborough Reef.
　　　　　The May 26-27 Group of Seven summit in Ise-Shima, western Japan, will provide Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe with a good opportunity to cooperate not only with the United States but also with European countries that may be less interested in the South China Sea problem. The G7 nations should accelerate the international isolation of China.

Yasushi Tomiyama is Senior Fellow and Planning Committee Member at the Japan Institute for National Fundamentals.