A South China Sea island--claimed by both China and Vietnam--now contains a runway for Chinese military aircraft.
State-run media reported the Woody Island facility Tuesday as China asserts its territorial claims in the area. Woody Island is part of the Paracel chain, which is also claimed by Taiwan. Tensions have risen over Chinese construction and oil exploration there this year.
Inquirer reports:
The runway is Beijing’s latest physical assertion of control in the area, two years after it declared a city named Sansha centered on 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. Parts of the sea are also claimed by the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan.
Xinhua’s report gave few details but said the runway was 2,000 meters 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 defense capabilities in the Xisha and Nansha islands," Xinhua said, using the Chinese names for the Paracels and Spratlys, a separate island chain.