Why is China building an artificial island large enough for an airfield in disputed south sea waters?
- Chinese officials have created a 3,000m-long reef in the Spratly Islands
- Archipelago has been source of dispute between south Asian countries
- Vietnamese, Malaysian and Filipino forces all have airfields in the water
- The developing Fiery Cross Reef may become China's first airbase
- Air force colonel said the military needed facilities in South China Sea
Chinese officials are building the first island large enough for its own airfield in the middle of disputed waters in the south sea.
Satellite images revealed that since reclaiming the Spratly Islands in August, workers have expanded one stretch of sand to make it long enough for aircraft to land and take off.
Dredgers are also creating a harbour to the east of the reef large enough to receive tankers and warships.
The 3,000m patch Fiery Cross Reef forms part of the archipelago which has been at the heart of territorial disputes for years.
Scroll down for video
Satellite images show that since reclaiming the Spratly Islands in August, workers have expanded one stretch of sand to make it long enough for aircraft to land and take off
While the islands, named after the British sailor Richard Spratly who discovered them in 1843, lie between the Philippines, Vietnam and Malaysia, they are host to a plethora of military machinery and resources owned by the Republic of China.
Fears that China intended to use the archipelago as a mineral-rich installation of military bases spread when officials began reclaiming the abandoned islands in August.
While the Chinese army controls many of the 750 islets and reefs, it does not yet have its own airfield in the south China sea unlike Malaysian, Vietnamese and Filipino forces.
According to imagery obtained by the Hong Kong defence publication IHS, dredging has begun on Fiery Cross Reef to create a harbour large enough for military tankers.
China has used dredgers to construct an island about 3000 metres long and 200 to 300 metres wide on the reef, which was previously
under water
Workers had built a reinforced seawall around an island on Johnson South Reef in the Spratly Islands by August (pictured)
This satellite image released in April 2014 showed substantial land reclamation, harbour redevelopment, and additional construction activity on Woody Island since October 2013
Johnson South Reef, Cuateron Reef, and Gaven Reefs have all been expanded on since Chinese officials reclaimed the waters earlier this year, though the Fiery Cross Reef is the only island large enough for an airfield.
Jin Zhirui, a colonel with the Chinese air force command, declined to confirm plans to build an airfield on the reef but said China needed to build facilities in the South China Sea for strategic reasons.
'We need to go out, to make our contribution to regional and global peace.
'We need support like this, including radar and intelligence.'
Chinese fishing vessels anchored at Fiery Cross Reef on the disputed Spratly islands where China is thought to be building a massive island
An aerial photograph taken in 1999 shows Chinese workers building on sparse land in the Spratly Islands
Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2846176/China-building-island-large-airfield-disputed-south-sea-waters-satellite-images-workers-expanding-archipelago-military-bases.html#ixzz3JzfJc01r
No comments:
Post a Comment