China’s land reclamation in the South China Sea involves island-building ships of record-breaking capabilities. That is according to a December 22 report on Haiwainet, a website published by the Chinese Communist Party’s flagship newspaper, the People’s Daily.

On November 3, China launched its largest and most advanced cutter-suction dredger, Tian Kun Huo. The 140-meter vessel reportedly possesses the most powerful excavation system in Asia, digging 35 meters below the surface of the water and dredging 6,000 cubic meters per hour.

Ships like the Tian Kun Huo helped China build up to 290,000 square meters of new land in the South China Sea in 2017, according to Chinese state media. These new islands contain underground storage, administrative buildings and radar installations that can be used in military operations. According to the Haiwainet report, China’s goal is to “improve the livelihood and work conditions of people living on the islands and strengthen the necessary military defenses of the South China Sea.”

In October, satellite images showed how quickly China was developing military installations on disputed territory in the Paracel Islands. Bonnie Glaser, a China expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told Reuters at that time that she expects the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (pla) to use these outposts to expand their control of the region. “They’ve built these extensive facilities, and both Chinese civilian and pla experts have always made it clear that when the strategic time is right, they’re going to start using them more fully,” she said. “I think it is a question of when, rather than if, China will start to assert its interests more forcefully in the South China Sea.”

China’s militarization of this region, the land reclamation projects, and its claim on the Paracel and Spratly Islands are alarming. China is slowly pushing out the United States and other East Asian countries dominating the Pacific Rim. With a speculated $5 trillion in oil and gas passing through it annually, the South China Sea remains a key interest to China. The fact that it is one of the world’s most important sealanes makes it a key interest for the world. In the July 2016 issue of the Trumpet, editor in chief Gerald Flurry wrote:

These militarized islands now function as forward bases for Beijing to challenge seven decades of American naval dominance in the Pacific Rim. This should alarm the world!

Each year, $5.3 trillion of trade passes through the South China Sea. That is roughly one third of the world’s maritime commerce! Since Japan’s defeat in World War ii, America has protected this vital trade route and brought peace to this part of the world. Now the American military is retreating, and other great powers are coming in to fill the vacuum. This is going to dramatically affect trade around the world, and U.S. trade especially.

A trade war often precedes a shooting war. That is what happened just before World War ii—especially so in Asia. …

China is intimidating the nations of Southeast Asia into submission to its will. It is forcing these countries to do what it wants.

Everything is headed in the direction of war.

Deuteronomy 28 discusses God’s warning to modern-day Israel if it does not turn from sin: “And he shall besiege thee in all thy gates, until thy high and fenced walls come down, wherein thou trusted, throughout all thy land: and he shall besiege thee in all thy gates throughout all thy land, which the Lord thy God has given thee” (verse 52). “Gates” is referring to sea gates. God warned that Israel’s enemies would afflict them by controlling sea gates, ultimately leading to besiegement and enslavement.

Mr. Flurry continued:

This prophecy is being fulfilled before our eyes! America’s enemies are securing shipping lanes and creating economic alliances that will very soon enable them to choke off America’s supply lines. Soon America will find it impossible to import oil and other necessities.

To learn more about China as a rising world power and its claim on the South China Sea, request our free booklet Russia and China in Prophecy.