China’s actions in recent years in the South China Sea (SCS), including its island-building and base-construction activities at the sites it occupies in the Spratly Islands, have heightened concerns that the country is rapidly gaining effective control of the SCS, the Congressional Research Service (CRS) said in a report released on 17 July.
Short of a conflict with the United States, Chinese bases in the SCS, and more generally, Chinese domination over or control of its near-seas region could help Beijing gain geopolitical, economic, or military control, the CRS said in its report, entitled ‘China’s Actions in South and East China Seas: Implications for US Interests – Background and Issues for Congress’.