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Beijing’s South China Sea islands build out control despite Hague ruling
A decade after Beijing rejected The Hague arbitration, SCMP says the dispute has continued through expansion of infrastructure on islands, including power stations and a prison.
A decade after Beijing rejected the ruling by The Hague’s Permanent Court of Arbitration on its South China Sea claims, rival countries have continued manoeuvring for control, according to a South China Morning Post feature.
The report describes how one disputed island, also known as Zhaoshu in China and Dao Cay in Vietnam, has been developed with modern infrastructure to administer activity there and nearby, including air-conditioned government offices, roads, electric sightseeing buggies, supermarkets, a helicopter pad, a waste-water plant and power stations.
It also notes that the island has a prison and that vegetation covers about 90 percent of the land, while describing visits by schoolchildren beginning summer holidays and a retired teacher traveling alone.
The feature frames the situation as a widening gap between international law and geopolitical reality in the region, with international judicial outcomes not translating into changes on the water.