After Ten-Year Pause, China Has Stepped Up Expansion of Artificial Island Bases in South China Sea

After a nearly ten-year hiatus, China has resumed its campaign to build artificial islands in the South China Sea with the aim of expanding its influence.

This is reported by The Wall Street Journal.

In particular, construction on Antelope Reef could provide Beijing with a new runway, additional missile facilities, and surveillance infrastructure, as well as strengthen its existing military presence in the region.

Due to its relative proximity to mainland China, this reef also opens up opportunities for the development of civilian infrastructure, allowing Beijing to bolster its territorial claims.

The status of the South China Sea has long been a subject of dispute between China and countries in the region. The campaign to create artificial islands has allowed Beijing to strengthen its control over key sea lanes of strategic importance, particularly in a potential conflict over Taiwan.

Work on the reef, which, according to satellite images, includes the construction of piers, a helipad, structures, and a new shoreline that could be used for a runway, came as a surprise to some analysts.

Antelope Reef is located in the Paracel Islands—an archipelago in the northern part of the South China Sea controlled by China, although Vietnam and Taiwan also lay claim to it.

Recent flashpoints have emerged around Scarborough Reef and Spratly Islands, which remain the subject of more intense territorial disputes. Vietnam, for its part, has also stepped up the creation of artificial land features in the Spratly area, gradually closing the gap with China.

The Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs protested against activities on Antelope Reef, stating that any work within Paracel Islands without Hanoi’s permission is illegal. In response, the Chinese side claims the archipelago as its inalienable territory.

There is currently no internationally recognized decision regarding sovereignty over these islands. At the same time, the 2016 ruling by the tribunal in The Hague effectively undermined the legal basis for China’s historical claims to most of the waters known as the ‘nine-dash line.’

Although the work on Antelope Reef is unlikely to shift the balance of power in the short term, it could create additional challenges for the US and its allies should the situation around Taiwan escalate.

Earlier, it was reported that China had launched a large-scale operation to map the seabed and monitor ocean conditions in strategically important regions of the world.