Pentagon Says China Weaponizing Man-made Islands in South China Sea

A new Pentagon reported released Friday said that China has reclaimed more than 3,200 acres of land in the South China Sea and the country’s focus has shifted to developing and weaponinzing the man-made islands.

The Defense Department said three of the artificial lands in the Spratly Islands sport 10,000-foot runways and large ports in various stages of construction. China has also excavated deep channels, created and dredged harbors, and constructed communications, logistics and intelligence gathering facilities.

The report states that China will enhance its presence in the contested South China Sea with its airfields, ship facilities, surveillance and weapons equipment. And those things don’t give the country any new territorial rights.

"This would improve China's ability to detect and challenge activities by rival claimants or third parties, widen the range of capabilities available to China, and reduce the time required to deploy them," according to the report released Friday.

"China is using coercive tactics short of armed conflict, such as the use of law enforcement vessels to enforce maritime claims, to advance their interests in ways that are calculated to fall below the threshold of provoking conflict," the report adds.

The acre figure only represents the land China reclaimed in the Spratly chain and doesn’t include the building in the Paracels and Woody Island. The Pentagon said China has deployed anti-aircraft missiles to Woody Island.

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