China’s Central Military Commission has announced another attempt to assert its claims of sovereignty over a disputed portion of the South China Sea today, announcing that they were upgrading the area to the level of “military garrison.”
The establishment of a garrison in the region may not necessarily mean additional military forces for the area, but upgrades it to a level on par with a normal Chinese city, despite almost no permanent residents.
The territory, called Sansha in China, is claimed in part of in whole by several nations, including Vietnam, Indonesia, Taiwan and the Philippines. The US has backed the claims of the other nations, while condemning China for its own assertions of sovereignty.
Despite the limited number of people living there, the South China Sea is considered both strategically valuable and potentially the location of some extremely lucrative resources, something these nations will continue to fight over for years to come.