CHINA is building a massive island in the South China Sea
that could host an airfield in an area where Beijing is locked in bitter
territorial disputes with neighboring states, a US military spokesman says.
The vast land reclamation
project on the Fiery Cross Reef in the Spratly Islands is one of several
pursued by China but the first that could accommodate an airstrip, Lieutenant
Colonel Jeffrey Pool said.
“It appears that’s what they’re
working toward,” Pool said.
A harbor also has been dug out
on the east side of the reef that appears large enough for tankers and naval
warships.
The United States wants China
to halt the project and for other governments to cease similar efforts.
In the past three months, China
has used dredgers to construct an island about 3000-metres-long and 200-300 meters
wide on the reef, which was previously under water, according to a report by
IHS Jane’s Defense.
The
results of the dredging are captured in satellite pictures obtained by IHS
Jane’s that cover a period between August 8 and November 14.
“The land reclamation at Fiery
Cross is the fourth such project undertaken by China in the Spratly Islands in
the last 12-18 months and by far the largest in scope,” the report said.
Before the latest dredging
work, the Chinese navy had used a concrete platform and no artificial island
had been created. China already has built islands at Johnson South Reef,
Cuarteron Reef and Gaven Reefs.
Beijing claims nearly all of
the resource-rich South China Sea, while Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines,
Taiwan and Vietnam have asserted their own claims by building structures on
reefs or occupying islands.
The other Southeast Asian
countries already had airfields in the area and China’s latest efforts could
put it in a stronger position as Beijing pursues its claims.
IHS Jane’s said the move
appeared aimed to provide China a stronger negotiating position should talks
take place over the dispute.
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