China moves weapons to new artificial islands
CHINA has moved weapons onto artificial islands it has built in disputed areas of the South China Sea, according to reports.
Australian military officials fear China could also introduce long-range radar and anti-aircraft guns, boosting its military power across some of Australia’s busiest trading lanes, the Sydney Morning Herald reports.
Beijing’s rapid land reclamation has sparked discussions in senior military circles about sending Australian naval officers and air force pilots on sail-throughs, fly-throughs or regional training missions to the area.
Land grab ... Chinese vessels dredge sand at Mischief Reef in the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea. Picture: DigitalGlobe/AFP/Getty PHOTO Source: Supplied
Contentious ... a Chinese flag flies on top of concrete structures on the Mischief Reef off the disputed Spratlys group of islands in the South China Sea, in this aerial photo taken on Monday February 8, 1999. Picture: AP Photo/Aaron FavilaSource: AP
Defence Secretary Dennis Richardson told a Sydney forum last night that China’s rapid and extensive reclamation of land in disputed areas of the South China Sea will be of considerable concern if it is being done for military reasons.
“It is legitimate to ask the purpose of the land reclamation — tourism appears unlikely,” he told a Royal United Services Institute forum at NSW Parliament.
“Given the size and modernisation of China’s military, the use by China of land reclamation for military purposes would be of particular concern.”
Concerned ... Defence Secretary Dennis Richardson said China’s “unprecedented” land claims raised questions of “intent”.
On Tuesday, China’s military compared its controversial island-building in the South China Sea to ordinary construction such as road-building going on elsewhere in the country, trying to deflect criticism over an issue seen as inflaming tensions in the region.
At the same venue, however, the Defense Ministry issued a report reaffirming China’s more assertive approach to national defence that has put its neighbours on guard.
The document on China’s military strategy said the navy would be adding “open seas protection” to traditional remit of “offshore waters defence,” while boosting its ability to counter-attack and conduct joint operations at sea.
The air force, meanwhile, will “endeavour to shift its focus from territorial air defence to both defence and offence,” said the 25-page report.
The report’s issuance and comments from ministry spokesman Yang Yujun at the briefing followed a formal Chinese protest over an incident last week in which a Chinese navy dispatcher warned off a US Navy P8-A Poseidon surveillance aircraft as it flew over Fiery Cross Reef, where China has conducted extensive reclamation work.
The incident, documented by a CNN news crew on board the US plane, prompted a testy editorial on Monday in the official Communist Party newspaper Global Timesthat warned that Washington should not test Beijing’s restraint or China would have “no choice but to engage.”
China has bristled at what it sees as US interference in the region and says it is within its sovereign rights in developing islands made from sand piled on top of reefs and atolls.
The US and many of China’s neighbours see the island-building as an up-ending of the status quo by China to bolster its claims to the region and possibly pave the way for military installations far from its shores.
In one disputed area, the Spratly Islands, US officials say China has created about 800 hectares (2000 acres) of dry land since 2014 that could be used as airstrips.
The US argues that man-made constructions cannot be used to claim sovereignty and is closely watching for signs that China will seek to back up its claims by basing missile systems and fighter aircraft on the newly formed islands.
However, Yang sought to minimise the military significance of the island developments and said the issue has been exaggerated by those seeking an excuse to take unspecified actions in response — a clear reference to the US.
“Every day all around China, there are all kinds of construction projects being started (such as) building homes, paving roads, building bridges, opening new farm land, etc,” Yang said.
“Looking from the angle of sovereignty, China’s development of construction on its islands is no different at all from all the other types of construction going on around the country that I just mentioned.”
Ground patrol ... Philippine soldier Tychico Octobre patrols a beach in Pagasa Island (Thitu Island) at the Spratly group of islands in the South China Sea, west of Palawan, on May 11, 2015. Picture: AFP/Ritchie B Tongo Source: AFP
However US State Department spokesman Jeff Rathke said China’s extensive land reclamation had contributed to rising tensions in the region.
He reiterated the US stance that under international law, creating artificial islands does not alter the sovereignty of the surrounding seas.
China lays claim to virtually the entire South China Sea, while Taiwan, Brunei, Malaysia, Vietnam and the Philippines say they own all or parts of it.
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