Satellite imagery shows China has rapidly transformed the once-submerged Antelope Reef in the disputed Paracel Islands into the foundations of what could become a major new military outpost, according to a Newsweek report published Sunday.
The report said Chinese state-backed engineers have spent roughly eight months reclaiming land and building facilities at the reef, which is claimed by both China and Vietnam. High-resolution images supplied to Newsweek by Colorado-based spatial intelligence firm Vantor showed extensive dredging operations, floating pipelines and newly created land around the reef’s lagoon.
By mid-July, the site had developed into a multi-pier harbor with a deep-water port. At least one Chinese Coast Guard vessel was seen docked there in June, according to the satellite imagery reviewed by Newsweek. The images also showed housing, vehicles, greenery, a helipad, heavy equipment and ongoing construction activity on the artificial island.
The expansion comes as China continues to reinforce its position in the South China Sea, a strategically important waterway that is contested by several governments. Beijing controls the Paracel Islands, which it seized from Vietnam in a 1974 naval clash, but Hanoi continues to claim the archipelago.
Researchers at the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative, part of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, believe China may be preparing to construct a runway as long as 10,000 feet at Antelope Reef, Newsweek reported. Such an airstrip could support military aircraft and potentially make the new installation China’s largest island base in the disputed waters. The report said the facility could eventually include radar systems, missile batteries, barracks and aircraft hangars, although those capabilities were described as prospective rather than confirmed.
The development has renewed scrutiny of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s 2015 pledge that China did not intend to militarize disputed South China Sea features. Standing beside then-President Barack Obama at the White House, Xi said China’s construction activities did not target or affect any country and that Beijing did not intend to pursue militarization, according to Newsweek.
Over the following decade, however, China expanded and fortified several reclaimed features in the Spratly Islands. Newsweek noted that Mischief Reef, once described by Chinese officials as hosting civilian facilities, is now Beijing’s largest military outpost in the South China Sea, with 1,379 acres of reclaimed land.
The Antelope Reef construction is taking place ahead of a planned U.S. visit by Xi, scheduled for September 24, Newsweek said. The report framed the work as a test of Washington’s willingness to challenge Beijing’s island-building strategy while the United States is focused heavily on trade, tariffs and other issues in its relationship with China.
China has defended its recent activity by asserting a sovereign right to build on territory it considers its own. Yet the 1982 U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea, which China ratified in 1996, does not grant artificial islands their own territorial sea or exclusive economic zone, Newsweek reported.
