Water Wars: Unease in the South China Sea—New Normal or Quiet before the Storm?

Sep 23, 2016 | Chris Mirasola
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Updated satellite imagery from Google Earth revealed four new concrete structures on Taiwan-controlled Taiping Island (Itu Aba). Taiping Island is the largest maritime feature in the South China Sea and was essential to the Hague tribunal finding jurisdiction in the China-Philippines arbitration. The tribunal’s determination that Taiping Island is not entitled to a 200 nautical mile Exclusive Economic Zone led Taipei to condemn the ruling and reassert broad, and contested, rights in the region.