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Does anyone have any insight into the motivation behind making the islands appear larger? I haven't been able to come up with any plausible guesses about what

• martythemaniak 5y ago
  It's pretty simple, China claims large parts of the south China sea, parts that extend far, far out of their maritime bounds and go into other countries' territories. They have a variety of justifications, one of which is they they dredge some reefs and make them into islands which they then claim. This particular instance is not in the south China sea, but it's all the same.
  • upwardbound 5y ago
    It might also be to get Chinese citizens to care more about having sovereignty over those islands. Laypeople in China might care more about the issue if the islands look big rather than looking like "oh who cares about that mound of dirt anyways".
    • seanmcdirmid 5y ago
      This is mostly strategic: China is effectively hemmed in by Japan, Korea, Taiwan, and a bunch of SE Asian countries. They simply don't have easy access to the ocean from a military point of view (they are easily cut off during a war). They are trying to claim the whole of the SCS to fortify it and ensure open routes in case of a war. It does seem awfully unfair looking at a map though, basically China's claim comes without 10 miles of other country land borders. Nobody but the Chinese would think these claims are fair.
• discordance 5y ago
  The “Mine is bigger than yours” decree