China's Paracel Reef Expansion: A Military Push

0:00On March 14, recent satellite images show China wrapping up dredging at Antelope brief in the Paracel Islands. Operations began with just two dredgers in December, but have exploded to 22 high-tech vessels. They're sucking up sand and mud from the seabed to build new land, covering more than 15 square kilometers so far. This expansion flies in the face of China's 2015 promise to stop such work. The reef, claimed by Vietnam and Taiwan, sits between China's Hainan Island and Woody Island, where fighter jets already operate. Since 2014, China has turned reefs in the Spratleys and Paracels into bases with long runways, hangars, radar, and missile shelters. Neighboring nations like the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Brunei, fiercely contested China's claim to almost the entire South China Sea, a key. Trade, route rich, and resources. A 2016 Hague Tribunal ruled against China's sweeping boundaries, backing the Philippines.

1:00Western countries respond with freedom of navigation patrols, near the islands. Other claimants are building too. Vietnam has expanded all 21 of its Spratly outposts, with a runway longer than some of China's. The Philippines, Taiwan, and Malaysia maintain their own airfields and bases. Just this week, China advertised 11 community worker jobs for 18 to 35 year olds on eight reefs, including Woody Island. As this industrial push creates multi-purpose outposts, it bolsters China's military reach and keeps regional tension simmering in these vital waters.