China on Friday defended its construction on disputed islands in the South China Sea as “normal”, after a U.S. think tank released new satellite images showing deployment of radar and other equipment.
Beijing claims nearly all of the sea and has been turning reefs in the Spratly and Paracel chains into islands, installing military facilities and equipment on them. The Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative said the build-up continued this year despite rival claims across the sea from Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan.
Responding to the report, Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said: “If China is conducting any peaceful construction activity or deploying necessary defence facilities, it’s very normal because it’s within our sovereignty.”
“We believe that some individuals are making a fuss about this. They’re trying to hype it up,” Mr. Lu told a regular news briefing.
Over the course of 2017, China has been advancing the next phase of development with construction of infrastructure to support air and naval bases, such as underground storage areas and “large radar and sensor arrays,” the Washington-based think tank said in a report on Thursday.
Satellite launch plan
The official Xinhua news agency reported on Friday that China’s southern island province of Hainan has revealed a satellite launch plan to “assist remote sensing coverage” over the South China Sea.
The mission will start in 2019 with the launch of three optical satellites, Xinhua cited the Sanyan Institute of Remote Sensing as saying.
