Chinese Aggressions

China builds new platform on reef in South China Sea, satellite photos show
By Travis Fedschun 

China has constructed a new platform at a remote part of the disputed South China Sea that could be used for military purposes, according to satellite images reviewed by a U.S. think tank on Tuesday.
The Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative of Washington’s Center for Strategic and International Studies said the "modest new structure" appears to be anchored on Bombay Reef, and is topped by solar panels and a radome. 

A radome is an enclosure that protects radar equipment.
"The development drew attention given Bombay Reef’s strategic location, and the possibility that the structure’s rapid deployment could be repeated in other parts of the South China Sea," the group said in its report.

The new structure on Bombay Reef has been spotted in satellite photos. (CSIS/AMTI)
Bombay Reef, a remote, undeveloped outcropping, is located on the southeastern edge of the Chinese-controlled Paracel Islands in the South China Sea. 

Vietnam also claims the reef, which already has a lighthouse to serve as an aid to navigation. 

The new platform first appeared at the reef in satellite imagery dated July 7, 2018, and was not present in earlier shots from April.
Unlike China's large man-made islands created by piling sand on top of coral reefs, installing the modestly-sized Bombay Reef platform did not mean inflicting major environmental damage, CSIS said. 

The installation, however, shows how easily China could expand its footprint to other features such as Scarborough Shoal, which it seized from the Philippines in 2012, it added.

The Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative of Washington’s Center for Strategic and International Studies said it's likely the purpose of the platform is "military in nature." (CSIS/AMTI)

"The more likely possibilities, given Bombay Reef’s strategic location, are military in nature," the group said in its report. 

"The reef is directly adjacent to the major shipping lanes that run between the Paracels and the Spratly Islands to the south, making it an attractive location for a sensor array to extend Chinese radar or signals intelligence collection over that important sea lane."

On Wednesday, the USS Ronald Reagan docked in Hong Kong days after a pair of American B-52 bombers flew over the disputed South China Sea. 

The recent tensions come ahead of a planned meeting later this month between President Trump and Chinese dictator Xi Jinping.
In late September, a Chinese destroyer came close to the USS Decatur in the South China Sea in what the U.S. Navy called an "unsafe and unprofessional maneuver."

China Deploys Military Plane to Third South China Sea Airstrip

• Landing follows deplopment of missile systems in Spratlys
• Vietnam, Australia protest militarization of structures

By David Tweed

Subi Reef in the South China Sea. 

China has landed a military plane on the last of its three airstrips in the disputed South China Sea, a Washington-based research institution said, amid renewed complaints about the country expanding its military presence in the busy shipping lane.
The Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative said satellite images from April 28 showed the first confirmed deployment of a military aircraft -- a Shaanxi Y-8 transport plane -- on Subi Reef. 

The structure hosts one of three runways China has built as part of a massive dredging and reclamation operation in the Spratlys chain since 2013, and was the last of three where military aircraft had been observed.
“This should be particularly concerning to the Philippines,” AMTI, a unit of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said on its website. 

About 100 Philippine civilians and a small military garrison are stationed on the Thitu islet, about 12 nautical miles away from Subi.
The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs didn’t immediately respond Thursday to a faxed request for comment.
China claims more than 80 percent of the South China Sea, a $5 trillion-a-year shipping route where five other countries including the Philippines and Vietnam also have claims. 

Regional concerns about China’s presence in the area reemerged earlier this month after the foreign ministry confirmed reports that the People’s Liberation Army had installed missile systems on Subi, Mischief Reef and Fiery Cross, where it has military-grade airstrips.

U.S. Warning
Chinese military aircraft have previously landed on other Chinese structures in the Spratlys, AMTI said. 

The first was a naval patrol aircraft -- possibly a Y-8 -- that landed on Fiery Cross in April 2016 to evacuate three people who had fallen ill. 

The Philippine Daily Inquirer last month published an aerial photo dated Jan. 6 showing two Xian Y-7 military transport aircraft on Mischief Reef.
China has installed anti-ship cruise missiles and surface-to-air missile systems on Subi Reef, Mischief Reef and Fiery Cross, CNBC reported earlier this month. 

Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying defended the move, saying the deployment was necessary to protect China’s sovereignty.
White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders warned that there would be “near-term and long-term consequences” of China’s militarization of the waters. 

Australia’s Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said any military build-up would run counter to China’s commitments, in an apparent reference to Chinese dictator Xi Jinping’s pledge not to militarize the structures.
Vietnam asked China to remove the military equipment deployed on its features in the Spratly Islands, Vietnam News reported Wednesday, citing Le Thi Thu Hang, spokeswoman for its foreign ministry. 

Hang said the placement of the missiles violated Vietnam’s sovereignty.
“If not already clear, China’s installation of anti-ship cruise missiles, surface-to-air missiles, and electronic jamming equipment in the Spratly Islands is indication that it has every intent of enforcing its maritime claims,” said Felix Chang, a senior fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute in Philadelphia.
Last month, Xi showed off his growing South China Sea military might, presiding over a the country’s largest-ever fleet review. 

Xi observed 48 vessels, 76 aircraft and more than 10,000 service personnel at the naval hub of Sanya.

Rogue Nation

China Is Still Building on Disputed Islands in the South China Sea
By MATTHEW PENNINGTON

WASHINGTON -- Tensions over China’s island-building in the South China Sea may have eased in the past year, but Beijing has kept busy.
New satellite imagery shows China has built infrastructure covering 72 acres (28 hectares) in the Spratly and Paracel islands during 2017 to equip its larger outposts to be air and naval bases.
The Washington-based Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative closely tracks developments in the South China Sea, where China and several Asian governments have conflicting territorial claims. 

It said Thursday there has been construction of hangars, underground storage, missile shelters, radar arrays and other facilities.
The activity comes as China joins what are likely to be protracted negotiations with Southeast Asian nations on a “code of conduct” for South China Sea. 

Tensions with the U.S. on the issue have also eased, despite Washington’s criticism of Beijing’s conduct.
The construction is the follow-up phase to a campaign of land reclamation that was completed by early 2016 in the Spratlys, an island chain where Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam and Brunei also have claims. 

China has added more than 3,200 acres (1,248 hectares) of land to the seven land features it occupies in the area.
China also seems to have halted smaller-scale operations to expand islands in the Paracels that lie farther north, the initiative said.
The U.S. and others have accused Beijing of further militarizing the region and altering geography to bolster its sweeping claims across the South China Sea. 

China says the man-made islands in the Spratlys, which are equipped with airstrips and military installations, are mainly for civilian purposes and to boost safety for fishing and maritime trade.
Greg Poling, the initiative’s director, said China had seized a diplomatic opening after the election of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, who adopted a conciliatory stance toward Beijing over their territorial dispute. 

It’s also been less of a focus for Donald Trump’s administration, preoccupied by North Korea’s nuclear threat and trade disputes with China.
“It’s gotten off the front pages, but we shouldn’t confuse that with a softening in China’s pursuit of its goals. They are continuing all the construction they want,” Poling said.
The most construction has been on Fiery Cross Reef in the Spratlys, including hangars alongside its 10,000-foot (3,000-meter) airstrip, underground structures intended to house munitions or other materiel, hardened shelters for missile platforms, and communication and radar facilities, the initiative said.
It also noted that China has deployed new military aircraft at Woody Island in the Paracels. 

At the end of October, the Chinese military released images of J-11B fighter planes there for drills. 

In mid-November, Y-8 transport aircraft were spotted on the same island that may be capable of electronic intelligence gathering.
Marine Lt. Col. Christopher Logan, a Pentagon spokesman, said Thursday that he could not comment in detail on U.S. assessments of the region but that “further militarization of outposts will only serve to raise tensions and create greater distrust among claimants.”
The United States does not claim territory in the South China Sea but has declared it has a national interest in ensuring that the territorial disputes there are resolved peacefully in accordance with international law and that freedom of navigation and overflight are guaranteed. 

China has opposed what it calls U.S. meddling in an Asian dispute.

Chinese Aggressions

China to mobilise hundreds of missiles to disputed South China Sea islands in coming months

By Ananya Roy

A satellite image released by the Asian Maritime Transparency Initiative at Washington's Center for Strategic and International Studies shows construction of possible radar tower facilities in the Spratly Islands in the disputed South China Sea in this image released on February 23, 2016

China could be preparing to mobilise the hundreds of surface-to-air missiles that are currently stationed in Hainan Island to the disputed man-made islands in the South China Sea over the coming months, US military officials said.
Two officials told Fox News on Saturday (24 December) that the Beijing administration might start mobilising the missiles in early 2017, in accordance with their expressed desire of guarding three airstrips built in three disputed man-made islands in the South China Sea.
Citing images from American intelligence satellites, the officials reportedly said that two missile systems were seen stationed in China's provincial island of Hainan, which is not part the territorial dispute. 

The missiles were moved to Hainan from the mainland recently, and are believed to be only a temporary location.
Hainan Island could likely be a training site before the missiles are eventually deployed in early 2017 to the disputed Spratly Islands or Woody Islands, the officials told Fox News, noting that the two missile systems on Hainan included the CSA-6b and HQ-9.
One of the military officials also told the news service that the total number of surface-to-air missiles on China's Hainan Island could reach 500.
China was reported to have deployed surface-to-air missiles to Woody Islands in the South China Sea earlier in the year, but it has yet to deploy missiles to its seven man-made islands in the Spratly Islands, the news service added.
Meanwhile, American think tank, the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative (AMTI), reported a couple of weeks ago that the country has positioned anti-aircraft and anti-missile systems on four of the seven man-made islands in the Spratly archipelago.
The US criticised the Chinese move saying it was against Xi Jinping's commitment that he would not militarise the disputed islands in the South China Sea.
However, Beijing media retorted to the criticism saying it does not see the infrastructure activities as militarisation.

Sina Delenda Est

China installs weapons systems on artificial islands
By David Brunnstrom | WASHINGTON

A satellite image shows what CSIS Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative says appears to be anti-aircraft guns and what are likely to be close-in weapons systems (CIWS) on the artificial island Subi Reef in the South China Sea in this image released on December 13, 2016.

A satellite image shows what CSIS Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative says appears to be anti-aircraft guns and what are likely to be close-in weapons systems (CIWS) on the artificial island Fiery Cross Reef in the South China Sea in this image released on December 13, 2016.

A satellite image shows what CSIS Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative says appears to be anti-aircraft guns and what are likely to be close-in weapons systems (CIWS) on the artificial island Johnson Reef in the South China Sea in this image released on December 13, 2016.

A satellite image shows what CSIS Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative says appears to be anti-aircraft guns and what are likely to be close-in weapons systems (CIWS) on the artificial island Hughes Reef in the South China Sea in this image released on December 13, 2016.

China appears to have installed weapons, including anti-aircraft and anti-missile systems, on all seven of the artificial islands it has built in the South China Sea, a U.S. think tank reported on Wednesday, citing new satellite imagery.
The Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative (AMTI) at the Center for Strategic and International Studies said its findings come despite statements by the Chinese leadership that Beijing has no intention to militarize the islands in the strategic trade route, where territory is claimed by several countries.
AMTI said it had been tracking construction of hexagonal structures on Fiery Cross, Mischief and Subi reefs in the Spratly Islands since June and July. 

China has already built military length airstrips on these islands.
"It now seems that these structures are an evolution of point-defense fortifications already constructed at China’s smaller facilities on Gaven, Hughes, Johnson, and Cuarteron reefs," it said citing images taken in November and made available to Reuters.
"This model has gone through another evolution at (the) much-larger bases on Fiery Cross, Subi and Mischief reefs."
Satellite images of Hughes and Gaven reefs showed what appeared to be anti-aircraft guns and what were likely to be close-in weapons systems (CIWS) to protect against cruise missile strikes, it said.
Images from Fiery Cross Reef showed towers that likely contained targeting radar, it said.
AMTI said covers had been installed on the towers at Fiery Cross, but the size of platforms on these and the covers suggested they concealed defense systems similar to those at the smaller reefs.
"These gun and probable CIWS emplacements show that Beijing is serious about defense of its artificial islands in case of an armed contingency in the South China Sea," it said.
"Among other things, they would be the last line of defense against cruise missiles launched by the United States or others against these soon-to-be-operational air bases."

PHILIPPINES CONCERNED
Philippine Foreign Affairs spokesperson Charles Jose told Reuters they were still verifying the report.
"But if report is true, then it is a cause for serious concern because it tends to raise tension and undermine peace and stability in the region," Jose said.
Vietnam's foreign ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
AMTI director Greg Poling said AMTI had spent months trying to figure out what the purposes of the structures was.
"This is the first time that we're confident in saying they are anti-aircraft and CIWS emplacements. We did not know that they had systems this big and this advanced there," he told Reuters.
"This is militarization. The Chinese can argue that it's only for defensive purposes, but if you are building giant anti-aircraft gun and CIWS emplacements, it means that you are prepping for a future conflict.
"They keep saying they are not militarizing, but they could deploy fighter jets and surface-to-air missiles tomorrow if they wanted to," he said. 

"Now they have all the infrastructure in place for these interlocking rings of defense and power projection."

The report said the installations would likely back up a defensive umbrella provided by a future deployment of mobile surface-to-air missile (SAM) platforms like the HQ-9 system deployed to Woody Island in the Paracel Islands, farther to the north in the South China Sea.
It forecast that such a deployment could happen "at any time," noting a recent Fox News report that components for SAM systems have been spotted at the southeastern Chinese port of Jieyang, possibly destined for the South China Sea.
Singapore-based South China Sea expert Ian Storey said he believed the move would help ready the facilities for the probable next step of China flying jet fighters and military transport planes to its new runways.
“From the outset it’s been quite obvious that the artificial islands were designed to serve as military outposts in the South China Sea,” said Storey, of the ISEAS Yusof Ishak Institute.
“Even while tensions are at a relatively low ebb, I think we can expect to see military flights to the Spratlys in the coming months – including the first jet fighters,” Storey said.
China has said military construction on the islands will be limited to necessary defensive requirements.
The United States has criticized what it called China's militarization of its maritime outposts and stressed the need for freedom of navigation by conducting periodic air and naval patrols near them that have angered Beijing.
U.S. President Donald Trump, who takes office on Jan. 20, has also criticized Chinese behavior in the South China Sea while signaling he may adopt a tougher approach to China's assertive behavior in the region than Barack Obama.
The State Department said it would not comment on intelligence matters, but spokesman John Kirby added: "We consistently call on China as well as other claimants to commit to peacefully managing and resolving disputes, to refrain from further land reclamation and construction of new facilities and the militarization of disputed features."

Chinese Aggressions

• Vietnam expanding South China Sea runway, says thinktank
• The upgraded airstrip on Spratly Island would be able to handle combat aircraft

Reuters
 

People in Hanoi protest against Chinese activity in the South China Sea. 

Vietnam is extending a runway on an island it claims in the South China Sea in apparent response to China’s building of military facilities on artificial islands in the region, a US thinktank has reported.
Satellite images taken this month showed Vietnam had lengthened its runway on Spratly Island (đảo Trường Sa) from less than 760 metres (2,500ft) to more than 1 km, Washington’s Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative said.

AMTI, a project of the Center for Strategic and International Studies thinktank, said continued reclamation work would likely mean the runway was extended to more than 1.2 km.

It said the upgraded runway would be able to accommodate maritime surveillance aircraft and transport planes, as well as combat aircraft.
The report said Vietnam had added about 23 hectares (57 acres) of land to Spratly Island in recent years, but its reclamation work remained modest by Chinese standards.
China has built military-length runways on three artificial islands it has built up in the South China Sea since 2013.
The United States, which has criticized China’s reclamation work in the South China Sea and stepped up defence cooperation with Vietnam in response, said it was aware of the reports that Hanoi had upgraded some of its facilities on outposts in the Spratly Islands.
“We encourage all claimants to take steps to lower tensions and peacefully resolve differences,” said Anna Richey-Allen, a spokeswoman for the US State Department.
Reuters reported in August that Vietnam had discreetly fortified several of its islands in the disputed South China Sea with mobile rocket launchers capable of striking China’s runways and military installations across the vital trade route.
Military analysts said the deployment of the launchers was the most significant defensive move Vietnam has made on its holdings in the South China Sea in decades and it underscored Hanoi’s concerns about China’s assertive pursuit of territorial claims in the disputed region.
Vietnam’s foreign ministry has called the information “inaccurate“, without elaborating.