Reuters: China Finishes Phase One of Construction on Contested Reef
By TaiwanPlus
China has finished the first part in a buildup on sensitive Lingyang Reef, also known as Antelope Reef, in a disputed part of the South China Sea, according to satellite images reviewed by Reuters. A military base on the reef could play a role in a conflict over Taiwan and present a new challenge to nearby Vietnam, which also claims the area.
Chinese Construction in the South China Sea
China has finished the first phase of building an island on Lingyang Reef in the South China Sea.
The feature is also known as Antelope Reef, and is claimed by Taiwan, China and Vietnam. Analysts say China will use it as a base for military operations in the region, possibly giving it a strategic advantage over Taiwan. China has not yet said it is building a base on the reef. State media in the country says the facility will serve civilian needs.
By Greg Torode
REPORTER:
China has completed the first phase of construction on Antelope Reef in the Paracels archipelago, building a man-made island in the hotly-disputed South China Sea that analysts say will form part of its largest military base.
Satellite images reviewed by Reuters show the reclaimed feature in outline for the first time, with barges and dredgers having left after at least six months of work in the busy waterway.
The completion shows the South China Sea as an increasingly militarised arena of competition between China and the United States and its allies, as both sides jostle for advantages that could prove critical in any future conflict over Taiwan.
Ben Lewis (founder of the open-source data platform PLATracker):
The northern part of the South China Sea would be particularly important in a Taiwan conflict scenario, so Antelope is ideally placed.
REPORTER:
Construction of buildings work has started in the southeast corner of the island, including a helicopter pad, in the July 19 images taken by Vantor, a commercial provider of satellite images.
China's defence ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
China has yet to acknowledge construction of a new military base, while state media have said Antelope will serve civilian needs such as weather forecasting and scientific research.
LIKELY TO STRENGTHEN CHINA'S MILITARY HOLD
Regional security analysts and military attaches say it is more likely to strengthen China's military hold on the northern part of the vital waterway.
The images show a reclaimed island nearly 6 km (4 miles) long, with a straight line of coast longer than 3 km (2 miles) that some analysts see as a potential runway.
A wharf stretching 680 m (740 yards) fronts a deep water harbour, with one Vantor image showing a coast guard ship alongside.
In a study this week, the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies said the first excavation work for a new runway appeared to have already started.
Open source intelligence tracker Damien Symon, who first highlighted dredging at the reef on X in early January said he spotted initial signs of work last December.
Ben Lewis (founder of the open-source data platform PLATracker):
I think the importance of the South China Sea and the Southern Theater Command has been elevated in the last year by the Central Military Commission largely as it relates to Taiwan.
REPORTER:
Lewis said he believed Antelope Reef could prove to be one of the Chinese military's most important features in the South China Sea, larger than neighbouring Woody Island and easier to defend than a network of bases further south in the Spratlys archipelago.
KEEPING BOMBERS CLOSER TO THE MAINLAND
China's military planners might feel more comfortable keeping some weapons, such as its H-6 strategic bombers, in the Paracels and closer to the Chinese mainland rather than on the Spratlys further south.
The construction work was "modest", Chinese South China Sea scholar Ding Duo said in an opinion piece published in the official China Daily in June.
Ding Duo (Chinese South China Sea scholar):
Rather than militarisation, the purpose is peaceful and constructive - making the waters safer for everyone who depends on them.
REPORTER:
The comments mirror China's previous explanations of its build-up in the Spratlys in waters also claimed by Southeast Asian neighbours Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei.
Woody Island has served as the traditional administrative centre for China in the South China Sea, housing at times jet fighters and surface-to-air missiles. Triton Island, also in the Paracels, hosts extensive long-range surveillance devices.
China has occupied all the Paracels since 1974, when it forced off the navy of the former South Vietnam. Vietnam, which claims the entire grouping as its own, has moved in recent years to expand its own network of bases in the Spratlys.
Vietnam's foreign ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment. It has previously asserted its sovereignty claims to Antelope, saying in March it "resolutely opposes such actions and has made representations".
REPORTER:
Antelope could also help support any bid by China to create so-called bastions or protected ocean areas in the South China Sea to defend its nuclear-armed ballistic missile submarines, said Singapore-based security scholar Collin Koh.
Collin Koh (Singapore-based security scholar):
The island buildup, likely to house extensive surveillance equipment, could potentially complicate submarine operations by the United States and Vietnam, which are both active in the area.
Such bastions close to home ports would protect China's submarines from exposure to rival attack, avoiding having to send them out into the western Pacific.
Some analysts believe the South China Sea was chosen for China's test firing last month of a long-range missile from a submarine.
Once complete, the Paracels facilities would strengthen China's ability to monitor the United States and allies in peace time, and add complexity in a conflict, said Carl Thayer, a professor at the Australian Defence Force Academy.
Carl Thayer (professor at the Australian Defence Force Academy):
It's one more thing the United States would have to take care of, and something they could attempt to defend from the Chinese mainland.
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First Phase of Construction Complete on Antelope Reef Base
REPORTER:
China has finished phase one of work building a base on Antelope Reef, a disputed spot in the South China Sea that could be important in a conflict over Taiwan.
China hasn’t acknowledged the base, and its state-run media says works on the island will have civilian uses. But military analysts see work revealed in satellite photos as part of building a strategic and defensible base that could keep important weapons relatively close to the Chinese mainland while giving China added surveillance. The buildup is a potential concern not just to Taiwan and the US, but to Vietnam, which also claims the area and which operates submarines nearby.
