FOREIGN POLICY & IMMIGRATION »» CONFLICT RESOLUTION »» RUSSIA/UKRAINE »» Dec 21, 2020

In 2014, China began massive dredging operations to build artificial islands in the South China Sea which they claim as their territory. China said these islands were built for peaceful purposes and construction soon totaled more than 3,000 acres. President Xi assured the world that he would not place military fortifications on these islands but soon afterward began building airstrips and installing anti-aircraft and anti-missile systems on all seven of the Spratly Islands. China says these islands, 1,269 miles from its mainland, are part of China it now claims nearly all of the resource-rich South China Sea as their own. However, competing claims have been made by Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei and Taiwan. In 2016, a United Nations arbitration case ruled against China