A WASHINGTON-BASED think tank has rejected the claims by the foreign ministers of Manila and Beijing that China has stopped its reclamation in the disputed South China Sea.
In photos and documents published on Thursday, the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative of the Center for Strategic and International Studies showed that “Beijing continues to reclaim land farther north” of the South China Sea “in the Paracel Islands,” an area also claimed by Vietnam.
“China’s own reclamation work did not end in mid-2015 with the completion of its artificial islands in the Spratlys. Beijing continues to reclaim land farther north in the Paracel Islands,” AMTI said. It said the most recent examples of its reclamation were at Tree Island and North Island in the Amphitrite Group.
AMTI made its statement even as 10 Vietnamese illegally fishing inside Philippine waters fronting the disputed West Philippine Sea were arrested by authorities on Tuesday.
Captain Cherryl Tindog, spokesman of the AFP’s Western Command, said the Vietnamese were arrested after the Philippine Navy vessel BRP
Gregorio del Pilar sighted a Vietnamese fishing vessel off Tapuitan Point 31 nautical miles off the Palawan shoreline.
Tindog said the Vietnamese were on board the FV Hua Houng when the vessel was interdicted and escorted to the Port of El Nido.
AMTI had previously reported on China’s work in the disputed areas from Dec. 14, 2012 until Aug. 5, 2017 as shown in the photos.
In August 2015, AMTI claimed that two months after Wang Yi claimed all Chinese reclamation had ended, there was only a small amount of newly created land on the western end of Tree Island.
“China has since dredged a new harbor and added about 25 acres of additional land to the island,” the organization said.
AMTI also reported in February that China had recently completed a new helipad and installed wind turbines and two photovoltaic solar arrays on Tree Island.
The group also said that China began reclamation to connect North Island with the neighboring Middle Island in 2016, but the land bridge was washed out by Typhoon “Sarika” last October.
“Since then, China has undertaken additional reclamation on the Southern end of North island and built a retaining wall around the seven acres of new land to prevent further erosion,” the organization said.
China had also constructed several new facilities, including what appeared to be a large administrative building in a newly made clearing on the island. China had left a gap in the retaining wall facing the remnants of the washed-out land bridge, suggesting it might not have abandoned plans to connect North and Middle Islands.
AMTI was reacting to the recent claims of Foreign Ministers Alan Peter Cayetano and Wang Yi that China’s reclamation activities had long ceased.
But during the Asean Regional Forum that was held in Manila, Wang insisted that they were not the one building structures but Vietnam.
“At this time, if you ask who is carrying out reclamation, it is definitely not China—perhaps it is the country that brings up the issue that is doing it,” Wang said.
Cayetano said he wanted to remove the word “reclamation” in the joint communique because he claimed that it does not reflect the current situation in the disputed sea.
But Cayetano failed to persuade his fellow foreign ministers and included the issue of reclamation and militarization in the customary joint communique.
“I didn’t want to include it [reclamation]. It’s not reflective of the present position. They [China] are not reclaiming land anymore,” Cayetano told reporters.
Cayetano also claimed, during Wang’s official visit here last month, that CSIS, an American think tank was for American interests and “not necessarily Filipino interests.” With Francisco Tuyay