The photographs show development undertaken on the Spratly Islands, a strategically vital area where China has built its own artificial islands on reefs.
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“One of them is more tourism, more fishing in the common fishing ground, which is within the Philippine (exclusive economic zone), but where the Chinese fishermen have also identified as being part of their traditional fishing grounds”, Ramos said. The Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei have overlapping claims.
CSIS claims the hangars on Fiery Cross, Subi, and Mischief Reefs in the Spratly island chain could handle any fighter jet in the Chinese air force, although they have detected no sign of warplanes moving into the new hangars yet, according to Reuters.
According to a report, the existence of the aircraft hangars in the South China Sea on Fiery Cross, Subi and Mischief Reefs in the Spratly Islands show the country could be preparing for a military deployment.
Relations have cooled since a UN-backed tribunal ruled last month that China’s claims over most of the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea) were invalid, in a sweeping victory for the Philippines which brought the case.
Chinese H-6K bombers and Su-30 fighters have completed a patrol of airspace above the Nansha and Huangyan islands in the South China Sea, said a Chinese military spokesperson Saturday adding that the manoeuvers included aerial refuelling.
Chinese President Xi Jinping in September 2015 told U.S. President Barack Obama “China does not intend to pursue militarization” in the Spratlys.
China has repeatedly denied doing so and has in turn criticized USA patrols and exercises for ramping up tensions.
“They are far thicker than you would build for any civilian goal”, Gregory Poling, director of CSIS’s Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative, told the Times.
Poling said the appearance of the reinforced hangers was not surprising since they’re sitting at the end of runways larger than any non-military objective would require.
The special envoy said the reason why he choose Hong Kong as his first stop is that it is very close to Shenzhen, Haikou, Guangzhou and other southern cities where he often went in and out after retirement.
“Such facilities fit well with China’s strategy to help it deter and constrain USA military intervention into the South China Sea”, he told TODAY in an email, adding that Beijing is not targeting the Asean claimant states. “The US has concerns”.
Ties around the region have been strained in the lead-up to and since The Hague ruling.
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“As long as China does not permanently station a squadron of aircraft there, I do not think we should read much into it and it is not feasible to leave things uncompleted”, Dr Alan Chong Chia Siong, associate professor at the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies told, adding that military construction was similar to civilian construction, which are built in phases.
