China's Island Factory

The US is increasing naval forces in the western Pacific, where tensions are on the increase between China and neighboring countries. Now China is building five artificial islands in the South China Sea, turning shoals and reefs into islands in waters contested by Malaysia, Taiwan, Brunei, Vietnam and the Philippines, a treaty ally of the United States. One observer says they're not really islands, but military runways surrounded by water. He's Robert Kaplan at the Center for a New American Security. He's author of Asia's Cauldron: The South China Sea and the End of a Stable Pacific.