http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/141632/andrew-erickson-and-austin-strange/pandoras-sandbox

Pandora's Sandbox

China's Island-Building Strategy in the South China Sea

Andrew Erickson and Austin Strange

ANDREW ERICKSON is an Associate Professor at the Naval War College and an Associate in Research at Harvard University’s Fairbank Center. Follow him on Twitter @andrewserickson [1]. AUSTIN STRANGE is a Ph.D. student in government at Harvard University.
Ongoing international disputes over territory in the South China Sea have led many to invoke an old adage: “When the facts are on your side, pound the facts. When the law is on your side, pound the law. When neither is on your side, pound the table.” Beijing is using all these approaches simultaneously, but with an ambitious twist -- as it tells other claimants to pound sand, China is pouring it. http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/141632/andrew-erickson-and-austin-strange/pandoras-sandbox