It might sound more like a geographical marvel out of a sci-fi film, but countries bordering the South China sea are now facing a new "dredge race," following China digging up much of Antelope Reef, transforming it from being mostly underwater to now being a crescent of white sand and solid land in the span of six months.
As per the BBC, China accomplished this feat with cutter suction dredgers. Other powers in the region, like Vietnam and to a lesser extent the Philippines, are using similar methods to dredge up reefs, creating new land that they can stake a claim to.
China, with the greater amount of resources, is leading the race, and each time it creates a new bit of solid land, it has coast guard and militia ships patrolling around the territory, staking further claim to it. According to the Asian Maritime Transparency Initiative, 11 new harbours have been made over the last three years. While the Philippines and Vietnam might have legal claim to some of these territories, it seems China isn't willing to adhere to the code of conduct established in the early 2000s.
"China just continues to do whatever it wants on the water, eating away at their sovereignty. So what I think you are eventually going to see is a non-binding agreement. But perhaps that will open up diplomatic space for Vietnam, the Philippines and Malaysia and the others to pursue more effective negotiations among themselves without having to go through Asean," said Greg Poling, head of the AMTI.