“Sovereign right”
Report says Beijing has put weapons on its artificial islands in area
China appears to have installed anti-aircraft and anti-missile weapons on its man-made islands in the strategically vital South China Sea, a U.S. security think tank says, upping the stakes in what many see as a potential Asian powder keg.
The Center for Strategic and International Studies said in a report late Wednesday that the anti-aircraft guns and close-in weapons systems designed to guard against missile attack have been placed on all seven of China’s newly created islands.
The outposts were built in recent years over objections by the U.S. and rival claimants by piling sand on top of coral reefs, followed by the construction of militarygrade 10,000-foot airstrips, barracks, lighthouses, radar stations and other infrastructure.
CSIS based its conclusions on satellite images taken in mid- to late November and published on the website of its Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative.
In a statement, China’s Defense Ministry repeated that development on the islands was mainly for civilian purposes but added that defensive measures were “appropriate and legal.”
“For example, were someone to be threatening you with armed force outside your front door, would you not get ready even a slingshot?” the ministry statement said.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told reporters at a daily briefing that he had no information about the reported weaponry but said such deployments were China’s sovereign right.
The Philippines, which has troops and villagers stationed on some reefs and islands near China’s new artificial islands, expressed concern despite recently improving relations with China.
“If true, it is a big concern for us and the international community who uses the South China Sea lanes for trade,” Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said. “It would mean that the Chinese are militarizing the area, which is not good.”
China’s new island armaments “show that Beijing is serious about defense of its artificial islands in case of an armed contingency in the South China Sea,” CSIS experts wrote in the report.
“Among other things, they would be the last line of defense against cruise missiles launched by the United States or others against these soon-to-be-operational air bases,” the report said.
Beijing says the islands are intended to boost maritime safety in the region while downplaying their military utility.
They also mark China’s claim to ownership of practically the entire South China Sea.