US preparing for potential conflict in South China Sea: report

During the Air & Space Conference and Technology Exposition held by the Air Force Association in National Harbor, Maryland on Sep. 16, the US secretary of defense, Ashton Carter, said Washington was already moving ahead to prepare for a potential conflict with China in the disputed South China Sea region, Russia’s Tass news agency reports.

China pursuing huge South China Sea land reclamation: US

China has dramatically ramped up its land reclamation efforts in the South China Sea this year, building artificial islands at an unprecedented pace to bolster its territorial claims in the disputed area, US officials said Friday.

The rapid construction of artificial islands in the strategic waters comes to 2,000 acres (800 hectares), with 75 percent of the total in the last five months, officials said.

“China has expanded the acreage on the outposts it occupies by some four hundred times,” said a US defense official.

US asks China to stop building Spratlys island which could host airfield

 

 

China is building a massive island in the South China Sea that could host an airfield in an area where Beijing is locked in bitter territorial disputes with neighbouring states, a US military spokesman said Friday.

The vast land reclamation project on the Fiery Cross Reef in the Spratly Islands, known in China as Yongshu Reef, is one of several pursued by China but the first that could accommodate an airstrip, Lieutenant Colonel Jeffrey Pool said.

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A harbour also has been dug out on the east side of the reef that appears large enough for tankers and naval warships.