Vietnam has started dredging work on a reef in the South China Sea, fresh satellite images appear to show, a move that could provoke Beijing, which claims most of the disputed waterway.
An image of the small Ladd Reef (Rihji Reef, 日積礁), which is also claimed by Taiwan, in the Spratly Islands (Nansha Islands, 南沙群島), where Vietnam has a lighthouse, shows several vessels in a carved out embankment on the reef’s edge.
Sediment can be seen leaking out into the ocean, according to Wednesday last week’s image provided yesterday by US-based Planet Labs, a satellite imaging company.
Photo: AFP
A July picture from Planet Labs shows no breach to the reef’s embankment, suggesting the work began in recent months.
Vietnamese officials did not respond to a request for comment.
The images follow photographs published last month from US-based Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative that showed Vietnam had extended a runway and was building hangars capable of hosting military equipment on a different island in the Spratlys which are also claimed by Taiwan and China.
However, Vietnam’s latest moves remain small-scale compared with China’s build-up in the waterway, where it has constructed several islands capable of supporting military facilities.
Though the intent of the work depicted in the photos cannot be confirmed, Vietnam expert Carl Thayer said that Hanoi might be trying to “stock up” ahead of a code of conduct agreement between various claimants in the South China Sea expected next year.
“Vietnam is moving beyond the ‘status quo,’” said Thayer, a professor at the University of New South Wales in Australia.
“My speculation was that if we are moving toward some diplomatic end game at some point in the next year or two, then Vietnam looks like it’s trying to get as much as it can before it’s prohibited,” he added.
Thayer said China can “make a meal out of” Vietnam’s latest apparent dredging work, but said it does not appear to be for military purposes or explicitly threaten Beijing.
The two countries have long traded barbs over disputed territory in the sea. In 2014 China moved a controversial oil rig into contested waters, prompting riots in Vietnam.
Taiwan, the Philippines, Brunei and Malaysia also have claims in the South China Sea.
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