China’s New South China Sea Capital

A small city emerges from the sea

By: Todd Crowell

Beijing administers its vast though unrecognized South China Sea empire from a little town called Sansha that has grown up on one of the Paracel Islands. Once home for itinerant fishermen, Sansha has grown into a town with a permanent population of about 1,800 people, many of them civilians such as teachers, doctors, and construction wor…