US think tank: Weapons system firmed up in Chinese structures in Spratlys
By Ian Nicolas P.Cigaral, Reporter
CHINA “remains committed to developing its power projection capabilities” in the South China Sea, a US think tank reported, as it flagged the Asian power’s installing weapons system on major reefs in the disputed waters.
The updated report (available in this link) could raise tension anew among nations with overlapping claims on the strategic waterway, including the Philippines, which recently sent its top diplomat to China at the latter’s “invitation” as both countries endeavor to rebuild ties that had been tested by their maritime dispute.
In a report dated June 29, the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative (AMTI) of Washington’s Center for Strategic and International Studies said China continues its militarization on the Spratly Islands, a South China Sea chain, by building new military facilities.
Showing satellite images, AMTI said Beijing has constructed new missile shelters and communications facilities on Fiery Cross (or Kagitingan, as named by the Philippines), Mischief (Panganiban), and Subi (Zamora) Reefs.
The islands, which the Philippines also claims, are about 230 miles southwest of the country’s archipelago province of Palawan.
On May 19, the Philippines and China held their first bilateral consultations on the South China Sea issue — almost a year after a ruling on an arbitral case by the Philippines that China rejects.
That same day, President Rodrigo R. Duterte in a speech claimed that his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping had warned him of war if Manila enforces the ruling and drill for oil in the sea. Both countries subsequently played down these remarks.
In his meeting with Philippine counterpart Alan Peter S. Cayetano last Thursday, June 29, Chinese Foreign Minister Wayng Yi, as quoted by Reuters, said relations between China and the Philippines are in a “golden period of fast development.”
This is in contrast to Mr. Wang’s describing those ties as being in “a dead knot” during the administration of Mr. Duterte’s predecessor, Benigno S.C. Aquino III.
Among the three maritime features, Fiery Cross remains to be the “most advanced of China’s bases,” the report said, after China installed four additional missile shelters on top of the eight already on the artificial reef.
AMTI reported in February that Mischief and Subi Reefs each have eight “hardened” shelters with retractable roofs.
On Mischief, China is expanding its communications and radar capabilities by installing a “very large” antennae array in the man-made reef, AMTI said.
Moreover, a large radome has been newly installed while another one is under work on Fiery Cross, “indicating a sizable communications or radar system,” the think tank also said.
Two more big radomes are also being assembled on Mischief while a smaller dome has been erected near the shelters of the artificial island, it added.
Philippine Defense Secretary Delfin N. Lorenzana when sought for comment: “I have not seen these new imageries and compare them with the old ones.”
For his part, Presidential Spokesperson Ernesto C. Abella told reporters in a news conference on Friday that Manila will follow Mr. Duterte’s “non-combative and non-adversarial” approach in fixing issues with China.
“We need to reiterate the fact that his approach to the situation, to regional socio geopolitics, has always been to come into a mutual understanding and dialogue in order to resolve cases like these,” Mr. Abella said.
