evidence: Chinese Coast Guard (CCG) vessels maintain a near-constant presence at Luconia Shoals off the coast of Malaysia’s Sarawak State. That uncomfortable fact does not garner much attention, either in the Malaysian or international press, but it speaks to Beijing’s determination to establish administrative control throughout the nine-dash line. The reefs, which are divided into the North and South Luconia Shoals, are located between the hotly contested Spratly Islands to the north and James Shoal, which China often calls its southernmost territory, to the south. Like James Shoal, the Luconia Shoals are underwater at high-tide, meaning they cannot be claimed as territory and constitute part of Malaysia’s continental shelf.