INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
China is building up several unoccupied land features in the South China Sea, according to Western officials, an unprecedented move they
whether China would seek to militarize them.
Fishing fleets that operate as de facto maritime militias under the control of authorities in
Beijing have carried out construction activities at four unoccupied features in the Spratly Islands over the past decade, according to the
officials, who asked not to be identified to discuss sensitive information
Some sand bars and other formations in the area expanded more than 10 times in size in recent years, they said.
The officials said new land
formations have appeared above water over the past year at Eldad Reef in the northern Spratlys, with images showing large holes, debris
piles and excavator tracks at a site that used to be only partially exposed at high tide
A 2014 photo of the reef, previously reported to have been taken by the Philippine military, had depicted what the officials said was a
Chinese maritime vessel offloading an amphibious hydraulic excavator used in land reclamation projects
They said similar activities have also taken place at Lankiam Cay, known as Panata Island in the Philippines, where a feature had been
reinforced with a new perimeter wall over the course of just a couple of months last year
Other images they presented showed physical changes at both Whitsun Reef and Sandy Cay, where previously submerged features now sit
obtained by Bloomberg News.
In a statement after the report was published, the Philippine Foreign Ministry said any reclamation
activities by China on unoccupied features would contravene agreements between Beijing and Southeast Asian nations on conduct in disputed
have been rising for years as Beijing invested more in naval and coast guard ships to enforce its claims
The Spratly Islands, historically tiny and uninhabited, have taken on greater geopolitical significance given they straddle one of the
Vietnam expanded dredging and landfill work at several of Spratly outposts this year, according to a report this month by the Asia Maritime
Transparency Initiative.
The Philippines this month protested Chinese vessels swarming two reefs nearby Reed Bank, a disputed area where
both nations have discussed a possible joint oil and gas exploration plan
Last year, the Philippines also amassed vessels at Whitsun Reef, located about 175 nautical miles (324 kilometers) west of the nation, after
more than 200 Chinese militia ships were spotted in a similar swarming maneuver
Images obtained by Bloomberg News depict physical changes to a layered land feature at Sandy Cay between 2009 and 2021
so-called freedom of navigation operations.
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said this month the US is building a more lethal force
