Mischief Reef
Mischief Reef (Chinese: 美济礁; pinyin: Meiji Jiao; Tagalog: Panganiban reef; Vietnamese: Đá Vành Khăn) is a reef in the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea, located 250 km (or 134.989 nautical miles) west of Palawan Island of the Philippines. Mischief reef consists of a lagoon and rocks that lie above water at low tide. The area surrounding it is said to be rich in yet unexplored oil and gas fields.
Territorial Disputes
In 1994 and 1995, China built initial structures on stilts in the area. The Philippine government protested these actions. However, the Chinese government rejected the protest and said that the structures were shelter for fishermen.
Mischief Reef has been occupied and controlled by the People's Republic of China since 1997, and is claimed by the Republic of China (Taiwan), the Philippines and Vietnam. In 1999, another wave of protests from Manila occurred when China added more structures to Mischief Reef.
An artificial island was made on the reef by the Chinese government from 2014 and was completed in 2016. In 2015, land reclamation started inside the rims. The Philippines filed a diplomatic protest against China after the discovery of their reclamation activities. By January 2016, work was well advanced on developing a military base with a large harbour and a 2.6 km runway, with an area of 5.58 square km (2.15 square miles). A civilian test flight to new airport was conducted by a passenger jet of China Southern Airlines on 13 July 2016.
The reef was also the subject of a 2016 tribunal ruling by the International Court of Arbitration, Hague. On 12 July 2016, the tribunal of the Permanent Court of Arbitration concluded that Mischief Reef is, or in their natural condition was, exposed at low tide and submerged at high tide and are, accordingly low-tide elevations that do not generate entitlement to a territorial sea, exclusive economic zone or continental shelf.
China was also reported to have planted buoys in nearby Sabina Shoal. Philippines claimed that China had a well-rehearsed routine when laying claim to a new reef: first put down buoys, then build concrete markers. Temporary wooden or bamboo shelters followed, and then permanent structures went up. The Philippines therefore would try to destroy the buoys or markers before China has time to build larger structures. The Philippines' decision not to destroy the Chinese structures on Mischief Reef has prevented an escalation of the dispute. The Philippines claims that China has always been prepared for armed conflict when challenged, as is evident in China's defense of reefs from Vietnam in the 1988 Johnson South Reef Skirmish which resulted in more than 70 Vietnamese deaths.
