HOW CHINA USE CYBER NETWORKS WITH DRONES TO MONITOR THE SPRATLY ISLANDS IN THE SOUTH CHINA SEA

Abstract

The South China Sea disputes are mainly related to delimitations concerning islands and reefs in the South China Sea and adjoining waters. The claimant states are China, Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Brunei. Claimants’ states are keen on holding or gaining the freedom to fish stocks, the investigation and expected abuse of unrefined petroleum and flammable gas in the seabed of different areas of the South China Sea, and the essential control of significant delivery paths. The Spratly Islands issue can be assessed from an assortment of points. Regarding public safety, these islands are significant because of their locations in the South China Sea, where numerous merchant ships carry merchandise, individuals, and energy to Asian-Pacific nations. Drones, as sophisticated tools connected and controlled by cyber technology, are used to observe the conditions of the islands from long distances. The methodology used in this article is the qualitative method. The data was collected from a variety of articles that related to this topic. This article analyses how effectively China uses drones with cyber power to monitor the Spratly Islands. This article focuses more on the operational, tactical, and strategic advantages of drone monitoring of Spratly Island in the South China Sea.