Beijing has completed a runway for military aircraft on a South China Sea island also claimed by Vietnam, state-run media reported, as it asserts its territorial claims in the area.
The newly built facility stretches across Phu Lam (Woody) Island, part of the Paracel chain, China's Xinhua news agency said late October 7th. The Paracels are also claimed by Vietnam and Taiwan.
The runway is Beijing's latest physical assertion of control in the area, two years after it declared a city named Sansha centred on Phu Lam (Woody) Island - known as Yongxing in Chinese - to administer vast swathes of the South China Sea. Vital shipping routes run through the waters and they are believed to sit atop vast oil and gas deposits.
Xinhua's report gave few details but said the runway was 2,000 metres long, and indicated it would have military uses. "With the completion and continued improvements to the runway on Yongxing, military aircraft can be based in the Paracels, and greatly improve Chinese defence capabilities in the Xisha and Nansha islands," Xinhua said, using the Chinese names for the Paracels and Spratlys, a separate island chain. Pictures posted with the report showed part of the airstrip surrounded by construction cranes and clear blue water.
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