China’s Academy of Space Technology in Beijing has launched a new high-tech satellite, called the Gaofen 3 high-resolution Earth observation satellite, which has been designed to protect its maritime interests, as well as warn of natural disasters, according to China Daily.
Xu Fuxiang, Head of the Gaofen 3 project, said: “…considering China has a total of 32,000 kilometres of coastline, 380,000 square kilometres [38 million ha] of territorial seas and more than 6,500 islands that have an area of at least 500 square metres [0.05ha], satellites like the Gaofen 3 will be very useful in safeguarding the country's maritime rights and interests.”
Technical Paper: The Chinese Port System: Competition and Cooperation
This follows news that China was looking to create nuclear power plants in order to harness the energy required to power militarised islands in the region.
This decision was made despite the country coming up against a court ruling in The Hague that it does not have sovereignty over the South China Sea.
There is currently a dispute among ASEAN countries as to who owns the South China Sea, although China owns the majority of it.
(Source: New China TV / YouTube)
