After weeks of Hamlet-esque public debate, US defense officials ordered Aegis destroyer USS Lassen to cruise within 21 kilometers (12 nautical miles) of Zamora Reef (international name: Subi Reef) on Oct. 27. The reef is an undersea rock in the South China Sea that Beijing has built into an artificial island in the contested Spratly Islands. It wants the reef to be considered a real island, with a "territorial sea" surroundings it. That means a 21-km zone where Chinese domestic law prevails, just like Beijing.

When is disputed sea militarized ? Wait until the first warbird touches down. (2015, November 2). Philippine Daily Inquirer, pp. A1, A12.