China appears to be constructing an airstrip on a disputed South China Sea island that is also claimed by Vietnam and Taiwan, according to satellite photos analysed by The Associated Press.
The work on Triton island in the Paracel group mirrors construction on seven human-made islands in the Spratly group to the east which have been equipped with airstrips, docks and military systems.
Satellite photos from Planet Labs PBC analysed by the AP show construction on the airstrip first visible in early August 2023. The runway, as currently laid out, would be more than 600m in length, long enough to accommodate turboprop aircraft and drones, but not fighter jets or bombers.
Triton is one of the major islands in the Paracel group, which is roughly equidistant from the coast of Vietnam and China's island province of Hainan.
China has had a small harbour and buildings on the island for years, along with a helipad and radar equipment.
China has refused to provide details of its island construction work other than to say it is aimed at helping global navigation safety. It has rejected accusations that it is militarising the South China Sea, through which an estimated US$5 trillion in trade passes annually.
The confrontation between a Chinese fighter jet and a US Navy reconnaissance plane over the South China on February 24, 2023, was the latest incident between Beijing and Washington over the disputed waters.
The Chinese PLA J-11 warplane, armed with air-to-air missiles, intercepted the US plane carrying CNN reporters, and nestled in just 150 metres off its port side.
The fighter jet tailed the US plane for about 15 minutes before heading off.
While flying close to the Philippines, the US Navy P-8 spotted a Chinese guided-missile destroyer and descended to about 300 metres to get a closer look.
It brought a warning from the warship.
"US aircraft. US aircraft. This is Chinese naval warship 173. You are approaching to me at low altitude. State your intention over," a voice was heard over the US plane's radio.
US vessels and aircraft operate regularly where international law allows, the Pentagon says.
But China claims the US presence in the South China Sea is what's fuelling the tensions.
Defence Minister Richard Marles has flagged Australia and the Philippines holding joint naval patrols in the South China Sea to counter Chinese assertiveness in the region.
Marles, right, met with Philippines Defence Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. in Manila on February 22, 2023.
"Both the Philippines and Australia are completely committed to a global rules-based order," Marles said.
The Philippine Coast Guard has accused a China Coast Guard ship of pointing a "military grade" laser at some of its crew on February 6, 2023, temporarily blinding them, aboard a vessel in contested waters of the South China Sea.
The Chinese ship also "made a dangerous manoeuvre" in approaching within 137 metres of the Philippine vessel, the Philippine Coast Guard alleged.
(Photo: CNN/Philippine Coast Guard)
In the February 6, 2023, incident, the Philippine vessel BRP Malapascua was on a mission to resupply the Sierra Madre when it was challenged by the Chinese ship, the Philippine release alleged.
"The Chinese ship illuminated the green laser light twice toward the BRP Malapascua, causing temporary blindness to her crew at the bridge," the release said.
In February 2022, Australia alleged a People's Liberation Army Navy warship "illuminated" an Australian P-8A aircraft, a reconnaissance and anti-submarine warfare plane, as it was flying over the Arafura Sea
(Photo: CNN/Philippine Coast Guard)
China's military build-up in the disputed South China Sea has been revealed in new images of artificial reefs transformed into bases for troops.
Getty Images photographer Ezra Acayan captured the vast installations in the strategically-vital waterway.
Airfields, radar installations and possible missile silos now occupy the reclaimed reefs.
The latest images, released in October 2022, show China's People's Liberation Army now has a major foothold in the South China Sea.
The military development of at least three artificial islands has taken place near the Spratly Islands, close to the sea's centre.
The images showed barracks and accommodation for a reported 5000 troops stationed on the artificial islands.
The military infrastructure included airfields and aircraft hangars.
This image of Fiery Cross Reef shows a Chinese plane on a runway.
The aerial photos were taken after China's Communist Party congress event, where President Xi Jinping refused to rule out using force on Taiwan to achieve reunification.
Defence experts say the new images reveal advanced radar and missile defence systems installed on the artificial islands.
"My guess is that the sea-facing garages are for angled cruise missile launchers," Tom Shugart, adjunct senior fellow at the Centre for a New American Security, wrote on Twitter.
Some defence experts noted gun turrets and close-defence systems for detecting and destroying incoming missiles and aircraft installed on the artificial islands.
In May 2022, a Chinese fighter jet flew "very close" to a Royal Australian Air Force reconnaissance plane, set off flares and dropped chaff in its path as it conducted routine surveillance in the South China Sea.
The new images of the military installations were released after a study earlier this year warned a prolonged war in the South China Sea would threaten 90 per cent of Australia's fuel imports.
The report by RMIT University in Melbourne says China's growing naval and air power in the region would block vital shipping routes to Australia during any conflict.
In July 2022, China blasted a top US Navy official after he criticised Beijing's increasingly aggressive actions in the South China Sea, saying it's America's military deployments in the disputed waters — which it called "navigation bullying" — that could spark confrontations.
US Secretary of the Navy, Carlos Del Toro, during a visit to the Philippines, said the US military focus in the disputed South China Sea would never slacken and, in fact, has intensified despite the war in Ukraine.
US naval forces including the guided-missile destroyer USS Benfold, pictured, recently held exercises in the Philippines Sea.
But Chinese officials said the South China Sea was not a "hunting ground" for countries outside the region.
"The South China Sea is not a 'hunting ground' for countries outside the region, still less should it be a 'wrestling ground' for big powers," a Chinese statement said.
Dotted with small islands, reefs and shoals, the South China Sea is a crucial shipping route and home to a messy territorial dispute that pits multiple countries against one another.
Tensions in the contested waters have ratcheted up since 2014 as China has turned sandbars into islands, equipping them with airfields, ports and weapons systems and warned US warships and aircraft to stay away from them.
Trillions of dollars of international trade are shipped every year through the South China Sea.
The US and other countries have been concerned growing Chinese control of the strategic waters will become a major threat.
They insist of freedom of navigation through the waters.
China bases its claims on the "nine-dash line" - its claimed territorial waters that extend hundreds of kilometres to the south and east of its island province of Hainan, abut its neighbours' claims and, in some cases, encroach upon them.
The Paracel Islands (Xisha to Beijing) have been controlled by China since 1974, but they are also claimed by Vietnam and Taiwan.
Tensions flared in 2014 when China installed exploratory oil rigs in the vicinity.
The situation is more complicated in the Spratlys, which Beijing calls the Nansha islands.
All of the islands are claimed by China, Taiwan and Vietnam, while some of them (or nearby waters) are claimed by the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei.
In early 2014, China quietly began massive dredging operations centring on the seven reefs it controls in the Spratly Islands - Fiery Cross Reef, Subi Reef, Mischief Reef, Cuarteron Reef, Gaven Reef and Hughes Reef.
One year later, Chinese President Xi Jinping said China wouldn't militarise the islands, but a report from the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative (AMTI) said China had installed comprehensive weapons systems on seven reefs that include anti-aircraft guns.
Some have called the islands China's "unsinkable aircraft carriers".
As China stretches its muscles as a growing superpower, the South China Sea, rich in oil and gas reserves, has become a testing ground for whether the country will rise as part of the existing international order or outside it.
It has repeatedly defended its right to build both civil and defensive facilities on the islands it controls. In 2017, a Chinese warship unlawfully seized an underwater drone from a US oceanographic vessel.
Beijing has also ignored a landmark ruling in 2016 by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, which said there was no legal basis for China's maritime claims.
The US and its allies, including Australia, have responded to China's growing influence by holding major navy exercises in the South China Sea.
They have repeatedly asserted their right to freedom of navigation in the disputed waters, with the US and other militaries flying and sailing assets close to the islands China controls.
The South China Sea is also thought to be rich in natural resources and some areas, particularly around the Malaysian coast and off Vietnam have proven oil and gas fields with billions of barrels of oil and gas equivalent.
The dispute is central to China's position within the region and globally and it attaches huge importance to maintaining control over islands that it claims as its "indisputable sovereign territories.
In May 2015 former CIA deputy director Michael Morell told CNN that the confrontation indicates there is "absolutely" a risk of the US and China going to war sometime in the future.