Tag Archives: South China Sea

ASEAN firms up South China Sea stance as Beijing lobbies over statement

An aerial view of China occupied Subi Reef at Spratly Islands in disputed South China Sea April 21, 2017. REUTERS/Francis Malasig/Pool

By Manuel Mogato and Enrico Dela Cruz

MANILA (Reuters) – Southeast Asian countries have altered a statement to be issued at Saturday’s ASEAN summit to include references to militarization and island-building in the South China Sea, the latest draft shows, in a move likely to frustrate Beijing.

Chinese embassy representatives in Manila had sought to influence the content of the communique by lobbying Philippine officials, two ASEAN diplomatic sources told Reuters.

However, four ASEAN member states disagreed with omitting “land reclamation and militarization” – terms included in the statement issued last year in Laos, but not featured in an earlier draft of this year’s statement seen on Wednesday.

China is not a member of the Association of South East Asian Nations, and is not attending the summit. China embassy officials in Manila could not be reached and China’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to request for comment.

ASEAN references to the South China Sea issue typically do not name China. Beijing is extremely sensitive to anything it perceives as a veiled reference to its expansion of its seven manmade islands in the Spratly archipelago, including with hangers, runways, radars and missiles.

The final version of the statement has yet to be agreed, but changes so far indicate ASEAN is resisting moves by China to keep its contentious activities in the strategic waterway off ASEAN’s official agenda.

China’s lobbying, and its burgeoning friendship with Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, may not have been enough to influence Manila’s position either.

“The Philippines is under too much pressure,” one of the sources said.

(For graphic on the Scarborough Shoal, click http://fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/rngs/ASEAN-SUMMIT-SOUTHCHINASEA/010021LX3Z6/ASEAN-SUMMIT-SOUTHCHINASEA.jpg)

(For graphic on the turf war on the South China Sea, click http://fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/rngs/1/6/12/index.html)

TABOO TOPIC

This year’s summit comes at a time of uncertainty about U.S. interests in the region and whether it will maintain its maritime presence to counter China’s assertiveness.

Chinese officials pressed for words that might allude to last year’s international arbitration ruling to be kept out of the statement, the diplomats said, particularly the term “full respect for legal and diplomatic processes”.

The latest draft still includes that, although it was moved out of the South China Sea section to another.

“They do not want any phrase linked to the arbitration case,” one source said.

The Hague ruling, in a case brought by the Philippines in 2013, angered China because it invalidated China’s claim of sovereignty over almost the entire South China Sea. China refuses to recognize the decision.

As part of his engagement with China, Duterte has decided not to press it to abide by the arbitration award anytime soon. On Thursday he said it was pointless for ASEAN to pressure China.

In his address to open the leaders’ summit, Duterte made no mention of the South China Sea, but touched on many issues central to his 10-month administration.

Duterte mentioned extremism, piracy, interference in a country’s affairs, and his signature fight against drugs, for which he has been widely condemned over the deaths of thousands of Filipinos.

“The illegal drug trade apparatus is massive. But it is not impregnable,” he said. “With political will and cooperation, it can be dismantled, it can be destroyed before it destroys our societies.”

Duterte then hosted two meetings with ASEAN leaders, which were not open to media.

ASEAN and China are hoping to this year agree on a framework to create a code of conduct over the South China Sea, 15 years after committing to draft it. Some ASEAN diplomats doubt China is sincere about agreeing to a set of rules.

In unusually direct comments for an ASEAN Secretary General, Le Luong Minh on Thursday told Reuters the code needed to be legally binding to put a stop to “unilateral actions”, because a previous commitment to play fair had been ignored.

(Additional reporting by John Ruwitch in Shanghai; Writing by Martin Petty; Editing by Lincoln Feast)

South China Sea code with Beijing must be legally binding: ASEAN chief

Le Luong Minh, Secretary General of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) delivers a speech during the opening ceremony of the 8th Cambodia-Laos-Myanmar-Vietnam Summit (CLMV-8) and the 7th Ayeyawady-Chao Phraya-Mekong Economic Cooperation Strategy Summit (ACMECS-7), in Hanoi, Vietnam 26 October 2016. REUTERS/Luong Thai Linh/Pool

By Kanupriya Kapoor and Manuel Mogato

MANILA (Reuters) – A maritime code of conduct between Southeast Asia and China must be legally binding to put a stop to “unilateral actions” in the South China Sea, because a previous commitment to play fair had been ignored, the ASEAN secretary general said on Friday.

The Association of South East Asian Nations had not received any guarantees from China in discussions to create a framework for the code within this year, but ASEAN was hopeful a set of rules could be agreed to ward off disputes and militarization, Le Luong Minh told Reuters.

“For ASEAN, such a framework must have substantial elements, and such a code of conduct must be legally binding,” he said in an interview.

Signing China up to a code that it must abide by, and can be enforced, has long been a goal for ASEAN’s claimant members: Vietnam, the Philippines, Brunei and Malaysia.

China claims sovereignty over almost the entire South China Sea.

China’s recent decision to work with ASEAN to draw up a framework for a code, 15 years after they agreed to one, has been met with a mix of optimism and scepticism, coming at a time when Beijing races ahead with development of its seven artificial islands in the Spratlys.

It has put radar, runways, hangars and missiles on some of those features, causing alarm in the region and concern about its long-term intentions.

The framework, which all sides hope to finish this year, seeks to advance a 2002 Declaration of Conduct (DOC) of Parties in the South China Sea, which commits to following international law, ensuring freedom of navigation and not putting people on uninhabited islands and features.

MILITARIZATION ACTIVITIES

“It’s important … because of the complex developments in the South China Sea, especially the reclamation and militarization activities and all those unilateral actions,” Minh said of the code.

“In that context, the need for an instrument which is legally binding, which is capable of not only preventing but also managing such incidents, is very important.”

Making demands of China is something ASEAN states have long been reluctant to do, wary of their economic dependence on their giant neighbor.

ASEAN leaders are meeting in Manila for a summit this week. Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said on Thursday it was pointless discussing Beijing’s contentious activities and no one dared to pressure it anyway.

Experts doubt China would tie itself to a set of rules in a waterway central to its geostrategic ambitions and expect it to drag the process out until ASEAN accepts a weaker code than it wants.

Asked if China had made any assurances it would stick to whatever code was agreed, Minh said: “We don’t have any guarantee, we just have to try our best.”

Minh said the code needed to be more comprehensive than the 2002 DOC, which was only a political declaration.

“It was good if all parties were implementing what was agreed, but that’s not what is happening. The COC (code of conduct), we need a legally binding instrument.”

Minh also urged de-escalation of tensions on the Korean peninsula, and said North Korea’s foreign minister had sent a letter to him two weeks ago asking for ASEAN’s support. He did not say what Pyongyang had asked ASEAN to do.

“They expressed concern over what they (perceive) to be the threat to their security,” he said. “They especially mentioned the joint exercises between the U.S. and South Korea.”

(Writing by Martin Petty; Editing by Robert Birsel)

China launches first home-built aircraft carrier amid South China Sea tension

China's first domestically built aircraft carrier is seen during its launching ceremony in Dalian, Liaoning province, China, April 26, 2017. REUTERS/Stringer

By Michael Martina

BEIJING (Reuters) – China launched its first domestically built aircraft carrier on Wednesday amid rising tension over North Korea and worries about Beijing’s assertiveness in the South China Sea.

State media has quoted military experts as saying the carrier, China’s second and built in the northeastern port of Dalian, is not expected to enter service until 2020, once it has been kitted out and armed.

Foreign military analysts and Chinese media have for months published satellite images, photographs and news stories about the second carrier’s development. China confirmed its existence in late 2015.

The launch “shows our country’s indigenous aircraft carrier design and construction has achieved major step-by-step results”, Xinhua news agency said.

State television showed the carrier, its deck lined in red flags, being pushed by tug boats into its berth.

Fan Changlong, a vice chairman of China’s powerful Central Military Commission, presided over the ceremony, Xinhua said, during which a bottle of champagne was broken on the bow.

The launch follows China’s celebration on Sunday of the 68th birthday of the founding of the Chinese navy, and comes amid renewed tensions between North Korea and the United States over Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile programs.

Little is known about China’s aircraft carrier program, which is a state secret.

But the government has said the new carrier’s design draws on experiences from the country’s first carrier, the Liaoning, bought second-hand from Ukraine in 1998 and refitted in China.

The new conventionally powered carrier will be able to operate China’s Shenyang J-15 fighter jets.

Unlike the U.S. navy’s longer-range nuclear carriers, both of China’s feature Soviet-design ski-jump bows, intended to give fighter jets enough lift to take off from their shorter decks. But they lack the powerful catapult technology for launching aircraft of their U.S. counterparts.

“NO NEED” TO MATCH THE UNITED STATES

China’s navy has been taking an increasingly prominent role in recent months, with a rising star admiral taking command, its first aircraft carrier sailing around self-ruled Taiwan and new Chinese warships popping up in far-flung places.

The Liaoning has taken part in military exercises, including in the South China Sea, but is expected to serve more as a training vessel. State media has said the new carrier will be more dedicated to military and humanitarian operations.

China claims almost all the South China Sea, believed to have huge deposits of oil and gas, through which about $5 trillion in ship-borne trade passes every year, and has been building up military facilities like runways on the islands it controls.

Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam also have claims.

Taiwan, claimed by Beijing as its own, has said China is actually building two new aircraft carriers, but China has not officially confirmed the existence of another carrier.

Chinese state media has quoted experts as saying that the country needs at least six carriers. The United States operates 10 and plans to build two more.

Major General Chen Zhou, a researcher at the Academy of Military Science, told reporters in March that China would not exceed the United States in carrier groups. “China has no need for this,” he said.

Sam Roggeveen, a senior fellow at the Sydney-based Lowy Institute, said that by the time China had half that number, it could go toe-to-toe with the U.S. navy in the Asia-Pacific.

“Given that the Americans have global obligations and responsibilities but China doesn’t, then effectively by that point they would be evenly matched,” Roggeveen said.

Most experts agree that developing such a force will be a decades-long endeavor but the launch of the second carrier holds a certain prestige value for Beijing, seen by many analysts as keen to eventually erode U.S. military prominence in the region.

“With two aircraft carriers you could say without much fear of contradiction that China, other than the United States, is the most powerful maritime force in the Asia-Pacific,” Roggeveen said.

(Additional reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Michael Perry and Nick Macfie)

Philippines checks report of ‘harassment’ near China-controlled reef

Filipino fishermen past a large Chinese vessel at the disputed Scarborough Shoal April 5, 2017. Picture taken April 5, 2017 REUTERS/Erik De Castro

MANILA (Reuters) – The Philippines has ordered an inquiry into reports that “foreign vessels” near China’s manmade islands harassed Filipino fishermen in the disputed South China Sea, the military chief said on Thursday.

In an interview with reporters, General Eduardo Ano said the armed forces had received sketchy reports of a group of Filipinos being driven away from Union Bank in the Spratlys, near Gaven Reef, on which China has built an island.

A Philippines television channel had earlier reported the fishermen had been fired upon, but the military, in a statement, described the events as “alleged harassment”.

China claims sovereignty over almost the entire South China Sea, through which about $5 trillion worth of goods pass annually. Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam also have claims, and occupy some islets and reefs in the Spratly archipelago.

Philippine authorities are trying to locate the fishermen, believed to have returned to land, who have been encouraged to report to police or coastguard officials.

China’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether it was aware of the incident or if the foreign ships in question were Chinese.

Reports of altercations between the Philippines and China have been rare since President Rodrigo Duterte took office last year and sought to patch up differences between the two countries and encourage business ties. He frequently heaps praise on China President Xi Jinping.

Duterte has refrained from criticizing China’s activities in the South China Sea and tends to blame the United States for letting the problem escalate, by failing to stop Beijing from building and arming its artificial islands.

In what appeared to be an olive branch to the Philippines, China’s coastguard in October started allowing Filipino fishermen to return and fish at the strategic Scarborough Shoal, which Beijing seized in June 2012. Chinese in the past have fired water cannon at vessels of other countries in the area.

Reuters journalists visited the coral atoll this month and saw a substantially larger Chinese coastguard and fishing presence than usual, although it was allowing Filipinos to fish inside the shoal for the first time since the blockade.

(Reporting by Manuel Mogato; Additional reporting by Ben Blanchard in Beijing; Editing by Martin Petty and Clarence Fernandez)

China says ‘no such thing’ as man-made islands in South China Sea

Chinese dredging vessels purportedly seen in the waters around Mischief Reef in the disputed Spratly Islands in the South China Sea, May 2015. U.S. Navy/Handout via Reuters

BEIJING (Reuters) – There was “no such thing” as man-made islands in the disputed South China Sea, China’s Defence Ministry said on Thursday, and reiterated that any building work was mainly for civilian purposes.

China, which claims most of the resource-rich region, has carried out land reclamation and construction on several islands in the Spratly archipelago, parts of which are also claimed by Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam.

The building has included airports, harbors and other facilities, involving in some cases the dumping of massive amounts of sand to build up land on what were reefs or structures that may only have been exposed at low tide.

But ministry spokesman Wu Qian implied that was perhaps a misunderstanding, though he said there was construction work which China had every right to do as the Spratlys were inherent Chinese territory.

“There is no such thing as man-made islands,” Wu told a regular monthly news briefing. “Most of the building is for civilian purposes, including necessary defensive facilities.”

The South China Sea is generally stable at present, but some countries outside the region are anxious about this and want to hype things up and create tensions, Wu said, using terminology that normally refers to the United States.

Pressed to explain his comment that were no man-made islands, Wu declined to elaborate, saying China had already provided a full explanation of its construction work.

On Monday, a U.S. think tank said China appeared to have largely completed major construction of military infrastructure on artificial islands it has built in the South China Sea and can now deploy combat planes and other military hardware there at any time.

China has repeatedly denied charges it is militarizing the South China Sea, through which about $5 trillion in ship-borne trade passes every year.

(Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)

China able to deploy warplanes on artificial islands any time: U.S. think tank

Construction is shown on Fiery Cross Reef, in the Spratly Islands, the disputed South China Sea. CSIS/AMTI DigitalGlobe/Handout via REUTERS

By David Brunnstrom

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – China appears to have largely completed major construction of military infrastructure on artificial islands it has built in the South China Sea and can now deploy combat planes and other military hardware there at any time, a U.S. think tank said on Monday.

The Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative (AMTI), part of Washington’s Center for Strategic and International Studies, said the work on Fiery Cross, Subi and Mischief Reefs in the Spratly Islands included naval, air, radar and defensive facilities.

The think tank cited satellite images taken this month, which its director, Greg Poling, said showed new radar antennae on Fiery Cross and Subi.

“So look for deployments in the near future,” he said.

China has denied U.S. charges that it is militarizing the South China Sea, although last week Premier Li Keqiang said defense equipment had been placed on islands in the disputed waterway to maintain “freedom of navigation.”

China’s Defense Ministry did not respond to a request for comment.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said on Tuesday she was unaware of the details of the think tank’s report, but added the Spratly Islands were China’s inherent territory.

“As for China deploying or not deploying necessary territorial defensive facilities on its own territory, this is a matter that is within the scope of Chinese sovereignty,” she told a daily news briefing.

A Pentagon spokesman, Commander Gary Ross, declined to comment on the specifics of the AMTI report, saying it was not the Defense Department’s practice to comment on intelligence.

But he said that “China’s continued construction in the South China Sea is part of a growing body of evidence that they continue to take unilateral actions which are increasing tensions in the region and are counterproductive to the peaceful resolution of disputes.”

AMTI said China’s three air bases in the Spratlys and another on Woody Island in the Paracel chain further north would allow its military aircraft to operate over nearly the entire South China Sea, a key global trade route that Beijing claims most of.

Several neighboring states have competing claims in the sea, which is widely seen as a potential regional flashpoint.

The think tank said advanced surveillance and early-warning radar facilities at Fiery Cross, Subi and Cuarteron Reefs, as well as Woody Island, and smaller facilities elsewhere gave it similar radar coverage.

It said China had installed HQ-9 surface-to-air missiles at Woody Island more than a year ago and had deployed anti-ship cruise missiles there on at least one occasion.

It had also constructed hardened shelters with retractable roofs for mobile missile launchers at Fiery Cross, Subi and Mischief and enough hangars at Fiery Cross for 24 combat aircraft and three larger planes, including bombers.

U.S. officials told Reuters last month that China had finished building almost two dozen structures on Subi, Mischief and Fiery Cross that appeared designed to house long-range surface-to-air missiles.

In his Senate confirmation hearing in January, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson angered China by saying it should be denied access to islands it had built up in the South China Sea.

Tillerson subsequently softened his language, saying that in the event of an unspecified “contingency,” the United States and its allies “must be capable of limiting China’s access to and use of” those islands to pose a threat.

In recent years, the United States has conducted a series of what it calls freedom of navigation operations in the South China Sea, raising tensions with Beijing.

(Additional reporting by Ben Blanchard in Beijing; Editing by Richard Chang, Leslie Adler and Nick Macfie)

Vietnam seeks South Korean support in South China Sea

South Korea's Foreign Minister Yun Byung-Se (L) is greeted by Vietnam's Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc in Hanoi, Vietnam March 20, 2017.

HANOI (Reuters) – Vietnam’s Prime Minister sought support for the nation’s stance in the South China Sea when he met South Korea’s foreign minister in Hanoi on Monday.

Vietnam is the country most openly at odds with China over the waterway since the Philippines pulled back from confrontation under President Rodrigo Duterte.

“The Prime Minister proposed that South Korea continue its support over the position of Vietnam and Southeast Asia on the South China Sea issue and to help the country improve its law enforcement at the sea”, the government said in a statement on its website after the meeting between Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and South Korea’s Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se.

The statement did not say whether South Korea backed Vietnam’s position on the South China Sea.

Yun did affirm his country’s willingness to promote ties despite instability in South Korea after the ousting of President Park Geun-hye over a graft scandal.

South Korea is Vietnam’s biggest foreign investor thanks to companies like Samsung.

South Korea and China are currently in dispute over deployment of the U.S. anti-missile defense system. South Korea on Monday has complained to the World Trade Organization about Chinese retaliation against its companies over the deployment.

Last week, Vietnam demanded China stop sending cruise ships to the area in response to one of Beijing’s latest moves to bolster its claims to the strategic waterway.

China claims 90 percent of the potentially energy-rich South China Sea. Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam and Taiwan lay claim to parts of the route, through which about $5 trillion of trade passes each year.

(Reporting by My Pham; Editing by Julia Glover)

China to build on disputed shoal in South China Sea

Boats at Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea are shown in this handout photo provided by Planet Labs, and captured on March 12, 2016. REUTERS/Planet Labs/Handout via Reuters

BEIJING (Reuters) – China will begin preparatory work this year for an environmental monitoring station on Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea, an official said, as two U.S. senators introduced a bill to impose sanctions on its activities in the disputed waterway.

Last month, a Philippine minister said Chinese President Xi Jinping had promised his Philippine counterpart China would not build structures on the rocky outcrop both countries claim, but China called the comments “baffling and regrettable”.

China seized the shoal, which is northeast of the Spratly islands, in 2012 and denied access to Philippine fishermen. But after President Rodrigo Duterte visited China last year, it allowed them to return to the traditional fishing area.

This week, Xiao Jie, the mayor of what China calls Sansha City, said China planned to begin preparatory work this year to build environmental monitoring stations on a number of islands, including Scarborough Shoal.

Sansha City is the name China has given to an administrative base for the South China Sea islands and reefs it controls.

The monitoring stations, along with docks and other infrastructure, form part of island restoration and erosion prevention efforts planned for 2017, Xiao told the official Hainan Daily in an interview.

A spokesman for the Philippine foreign ministry, Charles Jose, declined to comment, saying it was trying to verify the reports.

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson arrives in Beijing on Saturday for a two-day visit, where the South China Sea, almost all of which is claimed by China, is likely to figure.

Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam also claim parts of the waters, which have rich fishing grounds, along with oil and gas deposits. About $5 trillion worth of trade passes through the waterway each year.

The United States has criticized China’s construction of manmade islands and its build-up of military facilities there, expressing concern they could be used to restrict free movement.

This week, U.S. Senators Marco Rubio and Ben Cardin introduced the South China Sea and East China Sea Sanctions Act that would ban visas for Chinese people contributing to building development projects in the South and East China Seas.

It would also put sanctions on foreign financial bodies that “knowingly conduct or facilitate a significant financial transaction for sanctioned individuals and entities” if China steps up activity at Scarborough Shoal, among other actions.

The senators’ proposal was “extremely grating,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said on Friday.

“I think the proposal put forward by individual senators shows their arrogance and ignorance,” Hua told a daily news briefing in Beijing.

China resolutely opposes the proposal, which infringes international law and international relations norms, she added.

Tension over the South China Sea reached a flashpoint after the Philippines filed an arbitration case against China in the Hague and as China started militarizing artificial islands it built up on reefs in the region.

China is also involved in a separate dispute with Japan over a group of uninhabited islands in the East China Sea.

(Reporting by Ben Blanchard and Christian Shepherd; Additional reporting by Manuel Mogato in MANILA; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)

China pledges firm response if Japan interferes in South China Sea

File photo: Hua Chunying, spokeswoman of China's Foreign Ministry, speaks at a regular news conference in Beijing, China, January 6, 2016. REUTERS/Jason Lee

BEIJING (Reuters) – China on Thursday pledged a firm response if Japan stirs up trouble in the South China Sea, after Reuters reported on a Japanese plan to send its largest warship to the disputed waters.

The Izumo helicopter carrier, commissioned only two years ago, will make stops in Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines and Sri Lanka before joining the Malabar joint naval exercise with Indian and U.S. naval vessels in the Indian Ocean in July, sources told Reuters.

The trip would be Japan’s biggest show of naval force in the region since World War Two.

“If Japan persists in taking wrong actions, and even considers military interventions that threaten China’s sovereignty and security… then China will inevitably take firm responsive measures,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said at a regular press briefing.

China said on Tuesday that it was waiting for an official word on why Japan plans to send the warship on the tour through the South China Sea, but that it hoped Japan would be responsible.

Hua did not say on Thursday if China had received confirmation of the plan, but said that the South China Sea issue did not involved Japan and that the country should “reflect deeply” on its “disgraceful” past invasion of the Paracel and Spratly Islands.

Japan controlled the islands during World War Two until its surrender in 1945.

China claims almost all the South China Sea and its growing military presence in the waterway has fueled concern in Japan and the West, with the United States holding regular air and naval patrols to ensure freedom of navigation.

Taiwan, Malaysia, Vietnam, the Philippines and Brunei also claim parts of the sea which has rich fishing grounds, oil and gas deposits and through which around $5 trillion of global sea-borne trade passes each year.

Japan does not have any claim to the waters, but has a separate maritime dispute with China in the East China Sea.

China regularly states that the dispute should be resolved without interference from non-claimants.

Beijing has been speaking with 10 members of the Association of South East Asian Nations since 2010 to agree to a set of rules aimed at avoiding conflict in the South China Sea.

Addressing a news conference at the end of the annual meeting of China’s parliament on Wednesday, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said that China hopes to push forward with the negotiations for the code of conduct to maintain stability.

(Reporting by Beijing Newsroom; Writing by Christian Shepherd; Editing by Nick Macfie)

China begins new work on disputed South China Sea island

Combination of satellite photos shows Chinese-controlled North Island, part of the Paracel Islands group in the South China Sea, on February 15, 2017 (top) and on March 6, 2017. Planet Labs/Handout via REUTERS

By Greg Torode

HONG KONG (Reuters) – China has started fresh construction work in the disputed South China Sea, new satellite images show, a sign that Beijing is continuing to strengthen its military reach across the vital trade waterway.

Regional military attaches and experts believe the work shows China’s determination to build up its network of reefs and islets, even if it is seeking to avoid a fresh confrontation with the new administration of U.S. President Donald Trump.

An image of North Island in the Paracels group taken on March 6 shows recent work including land clearing and possible preparation for a harbor to support what experts believe may be eventual military installations. Initial work was damaged in a typhoon last year.

The pictures, provided by private satellite firm Planet Labs, follow reports in January showing work undertaken on nearby Tree Island and other features in the Paracels, which are also claimed by Vietnam and Taiwan.

Diplomats briefed on latest Western intelligence assessments say Beijing is pursuing efforts to dominate its maritime ‘backyard’, even if it tweaks the timing of moves to avoid being overtly provocative.

“The Paracels are going to be vital to any future Chinese attempt to dominate the South China Sea,” said Carl Thayer, a South China Sea expert at Australia’s Defence Force Academy.

“We can see they are committed to militarization, whatever the official rhetoric tells us, even if they are going to do it bit by bit.”

UNCERTAINTIES OVER TRUMP

The more widely disputed Spratlys archipelago to the south are higher profile but the Paracels are key to China’s presence in the South China Sea,

China has in recent years temporarily based surface-to-air missile launchers and crack jet fighters at long established bases on Woody Island on the Paracels, helping protect its nuclear submarine facilities on Hainan Island.

North Island is part of an arc of reefs that are expected to form a protective screen for Woody, which includes civilian facilities and a listening post.

Zhang Baohui, a mainland security expert at Hong Kong’s Lingnan University, said he believed China was pursuing long-held goals of strengthening its facilities in the Paracels, and had calculated the Trump administration would not over-react given other pressing priorities.

“There’s also uncertainty with this young Trump administration, but this is very important work to the Chinese…the Paracels are vital to defending Hainan, which is in turn important to China’s nuclear deterrent,” he said.

“The calculation here is that it is really only Vietnam that will be rattled by this.”

The Vietnamese Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

China’s Defence Ministry said it was “not familiar” with any work at North Island.

“What needs to be stressed is that the Xisha Islands are China’s inherent territory,” it said, using the Chinese name for the Paracels. China fully occupied the Paracels in 1974 after forcing the navy of the-then South Vietnam off its holdings.

News of fresh Chinese activity comes as Rex Tillerson prepares for his first visit to the region as U.S. Secretary of State later this week. Tillerson sparked alarm in Beijing when he said in January China should not be allowed access to islands it has built in the South China Sea.

A U.S. official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, was unable to confirm new construction work on North Island but said it would not be surprising.

“It would be in line with what they have been doing, why else would they clearing land on the islands but for militarization,” the official said. “There is no other reason to have a presence there.”

Diplomatic sources in Beijing say China is not looking for confrontation with the United States over the South China Sea, pointing to China’s low-key reaction to last month’s patrol of a U.S. aircraft carrier strike group in the waters there.

China has recently sought to portray itself as being conciliatory over the disputed waterway, saying it and Southeast Asian nations are committed to a peaceful resolution.

Last week, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said a draft code of conduct for behavior in the South China Sea had now been completed and that tensions had “distinctly dropped”.

For a graphic of China’s reclamations in the Paracels, click http://fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/rngs/SOUTHCHINASEA-CHINA/010040500BH/china-paracel.jpg

(Additional reporting by Ben Blanchard in BEIJING and Idrees Ali in WASHINGTON; Editing by Lincoln Feast)