Liberation Army to land any of its aircraft on the island, analysts say.
Arthur Ding, an expert on China’s military at Taiwan’s National Chengchi University, said the airstrip would “definitely improve or enhance somewhat China’s military capability in the South China Sea”, including being able to deploy jet fighters to the island, although they would need “sophisticated logistical” support.
Other neighbouring countries have also built artificial islands in the area, he pointed out. But the speed and scale of China’s works were much faster, he told AFP, and whatever it does “definitely will have a serious repercussion on the South China Sea and the regional order”. Fiery Cross Reef, once little more than coral, is now 2.74 square kilometres in size, Washington-based CSIS said. China has reclaimed land on seven different reefs totalling an estimated 12.8 square kilometres, it added.
At one of the sites, South Johnson Reef, CSIS said Beijing has added a small port with two loading stations, two helipads on the reef and up to three satellite communications antennas.
It also had a “large multi-level military facility” with two possible radar towers being built, along with up to six security and surveillance towers, and four possible weapons installations.
Beijing claims almost the whole of the South China Sea, including areas close to the coasts of other littoral states, locking it into disputes with several neighbours, particularly the Philippines and Vietnam.
It also has a long-running row with Japan over islands in the East China Sea.
China’s foreign ministry said this week that some of the land reclamation works in the Spratlys had been recently finished on schedule, and facilities would be built mainly for civilian purposes, but “necessary military defence requirements will also be fulfilled”.
Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said at a regular briefing on Thursday that she was “not aware” of details of the latest CSIS report.
In a commentary on Thursday China’s official Xinhua news agency said that Beijing remained committed to dialogue and the peaceful settlement of disputes, stressing that it had refrained from forcefully taking back “occupied islands”.
But it warned: “Expecting China to sit idly by as other countries rush to occupy South China Sea islands is unrealistic and unthinkable.”