Pentagon: China's Man-made Islands Growing

China has built up and reclaimed even more land in the South China Sea than previously thought -- with an archipelago of man-made islands now spanning 2,900 acres, according to a new Pentagon report released Friday.

The size of China's artificial island territory in the disputed waters represents a 50 percent jump over the most recent estimate of 2,000 acres.

Since Chinese land reclamation efforts began in December 2013, the country has reclaimed land at seven of its eight Spratly Island outposts and, as of June 2015, had reclaimed more than 2,900 acres of land, according to the Asia-Pacific Maritime Security Strategy report released Friday.

Although land reclamation – the dredging of the sea floor material for use as land – is not new or even unique in the South China Sea, “China’s recent land reclamation campaign significantly outweighs other efforts in size, pace and nature,” the report states. By comparison, Vietnam has reclaimed a total of 80 acres and Taiwan has eight acres near the airstrip on its sole outpost on Aba Island.

Before this year, defense officials thought Beijing had only reclaimed about 500 acres of landmass to build the artificial islands. However, the lands are now big enough for buildings and equipment. The Pentagon report warned the infrastructure would allow China to have a "more robust power projection" in the South China Sea. Citing China's own statements the outposts "will have a military component," the report also said China is completing the construction of an airstrip.

The report said China may, then, be able to use the outposts as an alternative airstrip for "carrier-based aircraft," allowing China "to conduct sustained operations with aircraft carriers in the area."

More