China appears to be building a runway on a disputed island in the South China Sea, a Hong Kong newspaper reported on Friday based on satellite images.
The South China Morning Post newspaper said the construction of the 630-meter airstrip was spotted last month on Triton Island, part of the disputed Paracel Islands. The construction was revealed in satellite photos taken by the European Space Agency.
Triton Island, the southernmost and westernmost of the Paracel Islands, has been under Chinese control since 1974. The Paracels are also claimed by Vietnam and Taiwan.
Vietnamese and Chinese authorities have not yet responded to requests for comment, according to the newspaper’s report.
However, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin, in a press conference on Friday, defended the construction of the runway on the island, saying that Triton Island is part of China’s inseparable territory.
He added that what Beijing had been doing on the island was in line with international law.
China and Vietnam are involved in a territorial dispute over the South China Sea. In April, Beijing opened a restaurant selling hot stew dishes on Woody Island, the largest in the Paracel Islands, prompting criticism from Hanoi.
China has also built runways in the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea, which are also territories claimed by Vietnam, Taiwan, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei.
Source : Antara News
