By Elena Marchetti.
Jane’s Intelligence published a readout of recent commercial satellite imagery that shows Chinese engineers are making significant progress in constructing a runway on Fiery Cross Reef in the Spratly Islands – these islands are disputed between the People’s Republic of China, the Republic of China (Taiwan), and Vietnam, with Malaysia, Brunei, and the Philippines claiming parts of the archipelago.
When completed, the runway will be 3,000 meters in length and have a parking apron and support facilities. China has had a weather station on the reef since 1988. In 2014 Chinese engineers began land reclamation. That work has converted the reef into one of the largest islands in the Spratlys.
The Chinese also appear to be building a runway on Subi Reef, but it is less advanced than that on Fiery Cross Reef. China was considered the only claimant to South China Sea islands and structures that had no airstrip.
That condition is about to change. Construction of a 3,000m runway signifies that the Chinese are building a remote airbase. That means that the entire train of support capabilities will be present.
They include air defense missile systems, radar systems, navigation aids, ordnance storage, fuel storage and facilities for air and ground crews. The Reef already hosts 200 Chinese troops. Eventually, there will be more air strips with radars and air defenses.
The Chinese are deadly serious about asserting and defending their claims. As the Chinese continue to improve their holdings in the Spratlys, the prospects for negotiating meaningful compromises among the claimants diminish in direct proportion to the completion of China’s improvements and upgrades.
If Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam want to hold onto the islands they now occupy, they must be prepared to defend them.
The logic and energy of China’s consolidation of its claim to own the South China Sea and its structures require China to demand the removal of Philippine, Malaysian and Vietnamese outposts and troops in the Spratlys. Such a demand creates the condition for confrontation that needs to be carefully monitored.
