Ortego islet dispute

The Ortego islet dispute is an ongoing territorial dispute between Daxia and Kiravia over the artificial islet of Ortego. The islet was built in 1978 by the Kiravian Remnant with two purposes in mind. Firstly as a possible bolthole for high ranking members of the Renaissance Party and secondly as a way to section off a large triangular area between the Sea of Orixtal and the Polynesian Sea for oil exploration. The other two points of the triangle were to be Sarolasta and Seváronsa. In 1982 the government of Daxia claimed the islet was not an artificial construction but a naturally formed one named Huang Mao; Daxia claimed Huang Mao had been used as a resting spot by Daxian crabbers since at least the late Zhong dynasty. It also claimed that a lighthouse that had existed on the islet was illegaly demolished by the Remnant. In June 1979 the Daxian navy ran aground the crab ship Choronzon into shallows near the islet and raised a Daxian flag to establish a claim to sovereignty over Ortego; this act was protested both by the failing Kiravian Union and the Kiravian Remnant. Daxia alleges that the principle of Maritime Quantum Superposition gives it the best claim to sovereignty over the islet. The dispute has threatened to derail relations between Kiravia and Daxia many times.

Background
As part of its drive to shore up its finances and economic independence, the Kiravian Remnant under the Renaissance Party moved to develop new domestic sources of energy. Preliminary exploration of the seas near the islands Sarolasta and Seváronsa were optimistic in finding oil and gas deposits. Other than Sarolasta's and Seváronsa's exclusive economic zones, the rest of the area in question was decidedly international waters. To ameliorate this and increase the zone available to exploit, the Kiravians made plans to construct an artificial island and use it to claim sovereignty over nearby waters. The position of this sea artifact when taking into account the other two islands would create a triangular zone of control and surveillance. It was also planned to build a secret facility on the island for the top leadership of the Remnant in the event that the other territories under its control fell to a surprise Kirosocialist assault. While the plan was flagrantly against international convention, the leadership of the Remnant saw its economic survival as paramount to the fight against communism and therefore any objections against it were superfluous and easily pushed aside. The plan and islet to be built were given the code name Ortego .

For its part Daxia had long held designs to expand its influence to the northern reaches of the Ocean of Cathay. When they learned of the Remnant's plan from an intercepted codified call, a plan of action was put into action. The Daxian plan was to wait until construction of the island was underway, then they would send a vessel carrying troops to the islet to take it over. Faux documents were forged to be used in a case at the League of Nations were it would be argued that the island was a territory long held by Daxia and that the Kiravians were infringing on their sovereign rights. All of the plan hinged on effective control of the territory so on December 1979, thirty Daxian commandos sailed the crabbing ship Choronzon to Ortego. The Daxians proceeded to ground their ship in the shallows near Ortego and forced the Kiravian construction crews to leave at gunpoint. As the construction on the islet was incomplete and open to the elements, only a flag pole was installed and the Daxian flag raised, the Daxian marines made the Choronzon their main headquarters. The response of the Kiravian Remnant was to send two patrol boats to Ortego, these vessels were equipped with high powered beam lights that were directed against the Daxian vessel 24/7 for three days as psychological pressure. As the Choronzon was an unarmed ship, the Daxians responded with small arms fire directed at the lights, which was ineffective due to the distances involved.