evidence: The Spratlys are a group of geographic features including reefs, shoals and rocks located near the Philippines, Brunei and Malaysia — and several hundred miles from China’s shores. The area is claimed by the PRC, Taiwan (as the Republic of China), Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei. Of these, the PRC’s claims are the most expansive. The PRC has long claimed control (without specifically using the term "sovereignty") over territory within the so-called "nine-dash line," a region which encompasses much of the South China Sea, including the Spratlys. However, the PRC hasn’t quite specified whether it claims only the land features, or the waters as well. [...] China is not the first or only country to militarize in the Spratlys (Vietnam was the first to build an airstrip in the area in 1976). It’s the scale and undeterred expansion of China’s military presence in the region that warrants international attention.