ISLAND GRABBING: China almost has Australia surrounded ISLAND GRABBING: China almost has Australia surrounded CHINA's island-grabbing campaign is getting close to home. It's muscling in on tiny nations from the Indian to the Pacific Oceans. But Australia's begun pushing back. Ceylon. Savo Island. Coral Sea. Guadalcanal. Gilbert and Marshall Islands. Tarawa. Truk. Guam. These were names plucked from obscurity by bloody battles against Japan during World War II. They were battles fought because these seemingly insignificant islands - some little more than coral atolls and volcanic outcrops - are important. They are remote outposts, rare landfalls in vast oceans. They sit astride shipping lanes that carry the lifeblood of South-East Asia's and Oceania's economies. Those controlling these specks on the map potentially have an impact on world affairs seemingly out of all proportion. https://m.sunshinecoastdaily.com.au/news/china-almost-has-australia-surrounded-but-its-debt/3533300/?fbclid=IwAR0_VAeexrMd7QctEnry3JNlqzOdmqcVhioTrMqes_BhFjPZUX7cnqJesZY