BRITAIN's IHS Jane's Defence Weekly says it has obtained satellite imagery showing China's building new islands in the disputed Spratly Islands.
"China previously built a concrete platform that sat above the reef on its western side. This structure was fortified and housed anti-air and naval gun systems," said the report.
Airbus Defence and Space imagery shows Chinese activity in Gaven Reefs in the Spratly Islands. China built an artificial island between March and August 2014, the report said.
Satellite imagery shows that between April and August, a channel was cut out of the centre of Gaven Reefs and the resultant rubble eposited to create a rectangular island that is about 300 by 250 metres.
Along with a spit that leads to the channel, about 114,000 square metres of new land has been created.
As with Johnson South and Cuateron reefs - other sites of recent Chinese reclamation in the Spratlys - workers have enclosed the island with a concrete sea wall, said Janes.
"The reclamation were most likely carried out by Tian Jing Hao , a 6,017-tonne, 127-metre long cutter suction dredger that is believed to be the largest of its type in the Asia-Pacific region," said the report.
IHS Jane's previously reported that Tian Jing Hao was present at Gaven Reefs from May to June.
As of August 7, there were no piers or ro-ro docks or foundations for buildings at Gaven Reef, although there were barracks, ISO containers and construction materials.
At September 9 press briefing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said: "China asserts indisputable sovereignty over the Nansha [Spratly] Islands and the adjacent waters, and China's activities on relevant islands and reefs of the Nansha Islands fall entirely within China's sovereignty and are totally justifiable."
Asked the purpose of the construction, Ms Hua said it was "improve the working and living conditions of people stationed on these islands".
Neighouring countries dispute China's claim, which is based on its seizure of maritime holdings of the defeated Japanese forces after World War II, first by the non-communist Chinese government that later took up residence in Taiwan, and then assumed by Beijing.
The "nine-dash" or "cow's tongue" border covers the world busiest shipping lanes with the Spratlys, and the more northerly Paracella Islands, scattered archipelagoes of more reefs and shoals than bone fide islands.
The Philippines, a claimant like Taiwan, Malaysia, Vietnam and Brunei, is appealing to a United Nations tribunal for a declaratory judgment to determine the merits if the claims.
At issue is the status of an island, such as the low-tide elevations found in the Spratlys, and what is eligible to claim territorial waters.
The UN Convention of the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) contains certain clauses on what defines a land feature as an "island", an important determination because it decides if a land feature can generate 12 nautical miles of territorial sea and the 200 nautical miles of Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) it gets with it.
This first requirement for a land feature to qualify as an "island" is that it must be above-water at high tide.
The Philippines asserts that certain disputed low-tide features in the Spratlys, specifically Mischief Reef, McKenna Reef, Gavin Reef, and Subi Reef, can not qualify as "islands" or "rocks" and therefore have no territorial waters.
However, the big counterargument is that even if these features don" qualify as "islands" on their own, they still lie within the territorial seas of larger disputed land features that can be claimed as "islands".
WORLD SHIPPING
06 October 2014 - 21:20
China builds base in disputed Spratlys
BRITAIN's IHS Jane's Defence Weekly says it has obtained satellite imagery showing China's building new islands in the disputed Spratly Islands.
WORLD SHIPPING
06 October 2014 - 21:20
Jane's Defence Weekly says China builds base in disputed Spratlys
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