Recent reports have shown that China is continuing its occupation of the South China Sea. China claims they own most of it, but according to international law, they have no claim to it. A majority of the sea is considered international waters, but other parts have already been claimed by Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Taiwan. China claiming this sea would also mean they are claiming water where 30% of all maritime trade passes through. Chuck Hughes, local business owner, said, “If the world says they don’t own it, they shouldn’t have the right to own it, especially because of how large the sea is.” For the past year, China has been building artificial islands around the Spratly Islands, located almost 500 miles from the Chinese mainland. They then built military buildings, port facilities, and airstrips on the islands.

Recently, there have been almost two dozen warehouses built with retractable roofs that are suspected to house SAM (surface to air missile) batteries. A United States intelligence official said, “It is not like the Chinese to build anything in the South China Sea just to build it, and these structures resemble others that house SAM batteries, so the logical conclusion is that’s what they are there for.” The Pentagon said this could be a sign of military escalation, but the U.S. remains committed to keeping the South China Sea non-militarized. However, the United States military has deployed the USS Carl Vinson, an aircraft carrier, to patrol the borders of the ocean. Cam Peer, senior, said, “It’s good that we are at least sending something over there to show that what they’re doing is not going unnoticed and uncontested by the world.” The Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman, Geng Shuang, said China was aware of the reports, but they were not willing to share information on whether or not the buildings are being used to house missiles.