China gaining ‘substantial power’ in South China Sea

China will be able to project “substantial offensive military power” from artificial islands it has built in the South China Sea’s disputed Spratly Islands (Nansha Islands, 南沙群島) within months, the director of US national intelligence said. In a Feb. 23 letter to US Seantor John McCain, chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee, US Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said Chinese land reclamation and construction work in...