BEIJING—According to satellite images examined by The Associated Press, China seems to be building an airfield on a disputed South China Sea Island also claimed by Vietnam and Taiwan.
The development on Triton Island in the Paracel group appears to be on a smaller scale than the work on seven man-made islands in the Spratly group to the east, which have been outfitted with airstrips, ports, and military equipment.
The Chinese leadership claims almost the whole South China Sea as its own, rejecting competing claims and disregarding an international judgement that invalidates its claim.
The AP studied satellite pictures from Planet Labs PBC that show building on the airfield beginning in early August. The runway would be more than 600 meters (2,000 feet) long, long enough to accommodate turboprop planes and drones but not fighter jets or bombers.
There are also numerous vehicles tracks visible throughout most of the island, as well as what appear to be containers and construction equipment.
Triton is a prominent island in the Paracel group, which is located nearly equidistant from the coasts of Vietnam and China's island province of Hainan.
The US takes no position on the sovereignty claims but deploys Navy ships on "freedom of navigation operations" near the Chinese-held islands on a regular basis. In 2018, Triton was the target of one of these expeditions.
For years, the Chinese dictatorship has had a small dock and structures on the island, as well as a helipad and radar arrays. Two vast fields on the island have a Chinese flag star and a hammer and sickle symbolizing the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
The CCP has declined to reveal information about its island construction project, other than to suggest that it is intended to improve worldwide navigation safety. It has denied charges of militarizing the vital waterway, through which an estimated $5 trillion in trade passes each year and claims the right to do whatever it wants in its sovereign territory.
In a brief naval skirmish in 1974, China took complete control of the Paracels from Vietnam.
