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China Uses Cabbage to Advance its Claim in a Disputed Asian Sea

Ralph Jennings

   TAIPEI, TAIWAN - A cabbage crop being grown on a tropical islet will
   help China solidify its claims in a wider, disputed Asian sea by
   allowing more people to live there and proving that the tiny feature
   can sustain itself.

   Chinese navy personnel last month harvested 750 kilograms of crops on
   Woody Island in the South China Sea's Paracel archipelago,
   Beijing-basedGlobal Timesonline reported. The personnel used
   domestically developed "sand-to-earth" technology to growbokchoy
   cabbage, baby cabbage and lettuce among other vegetables, the news
   outlet says.

   Vietnam and Taiwan claim the same islets as well as the surrounding
   sea. Further south in the 3.5 million-square-kilometer waterway,
   Brunei, Malaysia and the Philippinescompetewith Chinese claims in the
   Spratly Islands. Rival governments prize much of the sea for fish and
   energy reserves. China has taken a military lead over the other parties
   since 2010.

   The crop will help China prove economic activity on a disputed island,
   a plus in its search for an internationally recognized legal basis to
   control theParacels,scholarsbelieve.

   "Other than military usage, you need to do something substantive in
   order to bolster your sovereignty claims," said OhEiSun, senior fellow
   with the Singapore Institute of International Affairs. "You need to do
   something which can advance (the) so-called local economy."

   Technology behind China's crop on Woody Island can "support
   communities" there, theGlobal Timessaid, citing experts. About 1,000
   people already live on the islet. They rely largely on food shipments
   from mainland China.

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