Images show rapid Chinese progress on new South China Sea airstrip
By David Brunnstrom WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Recent satellite images published on Thursday show China has made rapid progress in building an airstrip suitable for military use in contested territory in the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea and may be planning another. IHS Jane's Defense Weekly said images provided by Airbus Defence and Space taken on March 23 showed work on the runway on reclaimed parts of Fiery Cross Reef in the archipelago, which China contests with the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan. It said images from earlier in March showed reclamation work on Subu Reef in the Spratlys creating landmasses that, if joined together, could create space for another 3,000 meter (3281 yards) airstrip. The report said other images suggested China was working to extend another airstrip to that length in the Paracel Islands further north in the South China Sea. The report comes a day after the U.S. military commander for Asia, Admiral Samuel Locklear, said China could eventually deploy radar and missile systems on outposts it is building in the South China Sea that could be used to enforce an exclusion zone should China move to declare one. Images of Fiery Cross Reef showed a paved section of runway 505 meters (552 yards) by 53 meters (58 yards) on the northeastern side of the reef, which China began turning into an island with extensive dredging last year, the report said. Washington's Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank said satellite photographs from April 11 showed the runway about one-third complete, with a projected total length at 3,110 meters (3401 yards), large enough for heavy military transport planes and fighters. IHS Jane's said its photos showed further dredging work on the southwestern side of the island and floating cranes consolidating a harbour. CSIS said the reclamation work could help China press its territorial claims, many of which are more than 1,000 miles (1,600 km) from its shores, by allowing it to sustain long-distance sea and air patrols. However, its artificial islands were too small and vulnerable, both to weather and wartime targeting, to support major forward deployment of military forces. U.S. WARNS AGAINST MILITARIZATION Last week, the United States warned against militarization of contested territory in Asia and President Barack Obama accused China of using its "sheer size and muscle" to push around smaller nations, after Beijing sketched out plans to use the Spratlys for military defence as well as to provide civilian services that would benefit other countries. The United States says it does not take sides in the South China Sea but has called for a freeze on provocative acts. At a seminar in Washington on Thursday, China's ambassador to the United States, Cui Tiankai, said it was "natural" its reclamation work would include military defence facilities. He said there "should be no illusion that anyone could impose on China a unilateral status quo" or "repeatedly violate China's sovereignty without consequences." In an apparent reference to U.S. air activity, Cui added that the U.N. Convention on Law of the Sea, to which the United States is not a signatory, did not give anyone the right to "conduct intensive and close-range reconnaissance in other countries' exclusive economic zone." China claims most of the potentially energy-rich South China Sea, through which $5 trillion of trade passes every year. Western and Asian naval officials have expressed fears that Beijing could try to limit both sea and air navigation once its reclaimed islands are fully established. (Reporting by David Brunnstrom; Editing by Ted Botha)
