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."

Stern Warning

U.S. Can Take Down Chinese Man-Made Islands in the South China Sea
By LAIGNEE BARRON

A Philippine naval officer stands guard ahead of a US-Philippine joint naval military exercise near the disputed Spratly islands on June 28, 2011.

Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Kenneth McKenzie: "U.S. Can Take Down Chinese Man-Made Islands in the South China Sea"

Amid heightened tensions brewing between China and the U.S. military in the South China Sea, a Pentagon official on Thursday said the military has experience taking down small islands.
“I would just tell you that the United States military has had a lot of experience in the Western Pacific, taking down small islands,” Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Kenneth McKenzie said in response to a reporter asking about whether the U.S. has ability to “blow apart” China’s controversial man-made islands.
McKenzie, the Pentagon’s Joint Staff director, added later in the briefing that he was stating “historical fact”.
“We have a lot of experience, in the Second World War, taking down small islands that are isolated,” he said. 

“That’s a core competency of the U.S. military that we’ve done before. You shouldn’t read anything more into that than a simple statement of historical fact.”
But McKenzie’s comments come amid an escalating standoff in the controversial waters.
Since 2014, China has built artificial islands on top of reefs and rocks in the heavily contested territory. 

As those islands have become increasingly militarized despite Chinese dictator Xi Jinping’s pledges to the contrary, the U.S. has ramped up “freedom of navigation” operations, or FONOPS, to demonstrate rights to the sea under international law.
Earlier this week, China dispatched warships to confront two U.S. Navy vessels conducting such an operation near the disputed Paracel Islands. 

According to Beijing, the operation “seriously violated China’s sovereignty.”
This clash was followed by the outgoing head of the newly-named U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, Adm. Harry Harris, calling China the “biggest long-term challenge” to the U.S. during a military handover ceremony on Wednesday.
The escalating South China Sea tensions come amid the Trump administration seeking China’s support in lining up a summit with North Korea that could be held as early as June 12.