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| Soft Power: China Puts On Song to Back Island Claim | |
| (about 5 hours later) | |
| BEIJING — Now that China had completed a 10,000-foot runway fit for fighter jets and dredged a huge harbor at Fiery Cross Reef, an artificial island at the center of a territorial dispute in the South China Sea, the time had come to reward the workers who built them. | BEIJING — Now that China had completed a 10,000-foot runway fit for fighter jets and dredged a huge harbor at Fiery Cross Reef, an artificial island at the center of a territorial dispute in the South China Sea, the time had come to reward the workers who built them. |
| One of China’s biggest navy ships, a type of amphibious assault vessel, arrived at Fiery Reef Cross this week loaded with a performance group from the People’s Liberation Army. They danced and sang for two and a half hours before a cheering crowd of military personnel and construction workers. | One of China’s biggest navy ships, a type of amphibious assault vessel, arrived at Fiery Reef Cross this week loaded with a performance group from the People’s Liberation Army. They danced and sang for two and a half hours before a cheering crowd of military personnel and construction workers. |
| A video of the performance by CCTV, the Chinese state broadcaster, showed the gray hull of the Kunlunshan, a 20,000-ton warship and the second-largest vessel in the Chinese fleet, as the backdrop for the temporary stage rigged up portside. | A video of the performance by CCTV, the Chinese state broadcaster, showed the gray hull of the Kunlunshan, a 20,000-ton warship and the second-largest vessel in the Chinese fleet, as the backdrop for the temporary stage rigged up portside. |
| One of the most applauded songs of the evening was “This Is the Kind of Man We Want to Marry,” a patriotic ballad about a navy man who postpones his wedding because of his duties far from home. Eventually, the man’s fiancée comes to the island, and they marry on the construction site. | One of the most applauded songs of the evening was “This Is the Kind of Man We Want to Marry,” a patriotic ballad about a navy man who postpones his wedding because of his duties far from home. Eventually, the man’s fiancée comes to the island, and they marry on the construction site. |
| The audience, dressed in blue military fatigues and hard hats, cheered when the singer onstage delivered the “I do” line. | The audience, dressed in blue military fatigues and hard hats, cheered when the singer onstage delivered the “I do” line. |
| An enthusiastic construction worker told a CCTV interviewer, “This is exactly our lives: wife and children waiting for us to come home.” He wore a helmet bearing the name of the China Communications Construction Company, a state-owned enterprise specializing in port, airstrip and bridge building. | An enthusiastic construction worker told a CCTV interviewer, “This is exactly our lives: wife and children waiting for us to come home.” He wore a helmet bearing the name of the China Communications Construction Company, a state-owned enterprise specializing in port, airstrip and bridge building. |
| “Song and dance is always a way to show gratitude,” said Gary Li, an analyst at APCO Worldwide, a consulting firm on geopolitical affairs. The vessel the performers arrived on was similar to ships used by the United States Marines to carry vehicles, helicopters and troops, he said. | “Song and dance is always a way to show gratitude,” said Gary Li, an analyst at APCO Worldwide, a consulting firm on geopolitical affairs. The vessel the performers arrived on was similar to ships used by the United States Marines to carry vehicles, helicopters and troops, he said. |
| “The performance was a sign that Fiery Cross Reef is considered a long-term garrison,” Mr. Li said. | “The performance was a sign that Fiery Cross Reef is considered a long-term garrison,” Mr. Li said. |
| Live theater is not the only distraction for workers and troops on Fiery Cross Reef. Last month, satellite images showed a newly built soccer field and basketball and tennis courts. | Live theater is not the only distraction for workers and troops on Fiery Cross Reef. Last month, satellite images showed a newly built soccer field and basketball and tennis courts. |
| “The football field and tennis courts are all to enrich the spare time of the soldiers who are all young men working there under tough conditions,” said Xu Guangyu, a retired major general. “Now they can even watch television and use mobile phones. Before, we didn’t even have stable radio signals.” | “The football field and tennis courts are all to enrich the spare time of the soldiers who are all young men working there under tough conditions,” said Xu Guangyu, a retired major general. “Now they can even watch television and use mobile phones. Before, we didn’t even have stable radio signals.” |
| Fiery Cross Reef, now a 700-acre island where once just a couple of low-lying rocks were lapped by the tides, is the subject of an arbitration case filed by the Philippines at a United Nations tribunal in The Hague. | Fiery Cross Reef, now a 700-acre island where once just a couple of low-lying rocks were lapped by the tides, is the subject of an arbitration case filed by the Philippines at a United Nations tribunal in The Hague. |
| A ruling is expected in the coming weeks, and there is wide expectation that the panel will decide that China’s construction in the last 18 months on Fiery Cross Reef and other islands in the Spratly archipelago contravenes international law. | A ruling is expected in the coming weeks, and there is wide expectation that the panel will decide that China’s construction in the last 18 months on Fiery Cross Reef and other islands in the Spratly archipelago contravenes international law. |
| Before the ruling, China is making various military and diplomatic moves to show that it is standing firm on its claims to seven disputed islands in the Spratlys, about 500 miles from China and less than 150 miles from the Philippines. | Before the ruling, China is making various military and diplomatic moves to show that it is standing firm on its claims to seven disputed islands in the Spratlys, about 500 miles from China and less than 150 miles from the Philippines. |
| A large-scale Chinese naval exercise will soon be underway in the South China Sea, the newspaper The People’s Liberation Daily announced on Wednesday. | A large-scale Chinese naval exercise will soon be underway in the South China Sea, the newspaper The People’s Liberation Daily announced on Wednesday. |
| This week, three warships from the South Sea Fleet left Hainan Island, the southernmost province of China, for the exercise, and three more will soon join them, the newspaper said. The exercise is intended to “strengthen the combat spirit and foster the concept of war preparation,” it said. | This week, three warships from the South Sea Fleet left Hainan Island, the southernmost province of China, for the exercise, and three more will soon join them, the newspaper said. The exercise is intended to “strengthen the combat spirit and foster the concept of war preparation,” it said. |