New construction seen on Chinese man-made island

Subi Reef (Graphics by Philippine Daily Inquirer)

MANILA, Philippines — China appeared to be doing new construction work on the artificial island it had built on Zamora (Subi) Reef in the West Philippine Sea over the last four months, according to US geospatial company Simularity.

The satellite images taken on May 5, 2022, were compared with those from Dec. 15, 2021, which showed work in progress at seven sites on the reef.

These areas showed construction equipment, land clearing, and significant amounts of sand. One area in particular has new walls and parking lots, and new possible temporary structures, Simularity said.

The presence of equipment and additional materials may indicate construction is still in progress, Simularity said in a report over the weekend.

One of the ‘big three’

Another site indicated maintenance, expansion or addition of new features based on the changes observed, it said.

Zamora Reef is one of China’s “big three” man-made islands in the Spratlys chain. It has a three-kilometer runway, hangars, radars, missile shelters and weapons systems. It is about 25 kilometers west of Pag-asa (Thitu) Island, the biggest island occupied by the Philippines in the Spratlys and the only one with civilian inhabitants.

China claims the entire South China Sea, including the West Philippine Sea. The Philippines, China, Brunei, Vietnam, Taiwan and Malaysia have overlapping maritime claims in these waters.

An international arbitral tribunal ruled in 2016 to invalidate Beijing’s historical claims within its so-called nine-dash line. Beijing refuses to accept the ruling.

Simularity’s report is part of its South China Sea Rapid Alert service, which tracks the disputed waters on a daily basis.

In July last year, Simularity reported that Chinese ships anchored in parts of the West Philippines Sea were dumping “raw sewage, every day onto the reefs they are occupying.”

“When the ships don’t move, the poop piles up,” Liz Derr, co-founder and CEO of Simularity, said during a forum hosted by Stratbase ADR Institute on the fifth anniversary of the Philippines’ 2016 victory against China.

Simularity earlier reported that between May 13 and May 18, 2021, it found a total of 261 Chinese vessels in the West Philippine Sea: 234 at Burgos (Gaven) Reef, 18 near Pag-asa, and nine at McKennan (Hughes) Reef. Of these, at least 120 were within the Philippines’ 370-kilometer exclusive economic zone.

The “swarm” of Chinese vessels, most of them believed to be operated by the Chinese maritime militia, in Philippine waters triggered a diplomatic protest from Manila.

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