Activity on Ladd Reef in Spratly Islands runs
risk of angering Beijing and Taiwan
By Reuters
 |
|
Sand
can be seen spilling from a newly dredged channel in this view of
Vietnamese-held
Ladd
Reef, in the Spratly Island group in the South China Sea. Photograph: Reuters
|
Vietnam has begun dredging work on a disputed
reef in the South China Sea, satellite imagery shows, the latest move by the
communist state to bolster its claims in the strategically important waterway.
Activity visible on Ladd Reef in the Spratly
Islands could anger Hanoi’s main South China Sea rival, Beijing, which claims
sovereignty over the group and most of the resource-rich sea.
Ladd Reef, on the south-western fringe of the
Spratlys, is completely submerged at high tide but has a lighthouse and an
outpost housing a small contingent of Vietnamese soldiers. The reef is also
claimed by Taiwan.
In an image taken on 30 November and provided
by US-based satellite firm Planet Labs, several vessels can be seen in a newly
dug channel between the lagoon and open sea.
While the purpose of the activity cannot be
determined for certain, analysts say similar dredging work has been the
precursor to more extensive construction on other reefs.
“We can see that, in this environment,
Vietnam’s strategic mistrust is total ... and they are rapidly improving their
defences,” said Trevor Hollingsbee, a retired naval intelligence analyst with
the Ministry of Defence. “They’re doing everything they can to fix any
vulnerabilities – and that outpost at Ladd Reef does look a vulnerability.”
Reuters reported in August that Vietnam had
fortified several islands with mobile rocket artillery launchers capable of
striking China’s holdings across the vital trade route. Vietnam’s foreign
ministry did not respond to a request for comment.
The vessels at Ladd Reef cannot be identified
in the images but Vietnam would be extremely unlikely to allow another country
to challenge its control of the reef.
Greg Poling, a South China Sea expert at
Washington’s Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), said it
remained unclear how far the work on Ladd Reef would go. Rather than a
reclamation and a base, it could be an attempt to simply boost access for
supply ships and fishing boats.
Ladd could also theoretically play a role in
helping to defend Vietnam’s holding of Spratly Island, where a runway is being
improved and new hangars built, he said. “Vietnam knows it can’t compete with
China but it does want to improve its ability to keep an eye on them,” Poling
said.
Vietnam has long been fearful of renewed
Chinese military action to drive it off its 21 holdings in the Spratlys –
worries that have escalated amid Beijing’s buildup and its anger at the recent
Philippines legal action challenging its claims.
China occupied its first Spratlys possessions
after a sea battle against Vietnam’s then-weak navy in 1988. Vietnam said 64
soldiers were killed as they tried to protect a flag on South Johnson reef – an
incident still acutely felt in Hanoi.
The United States has repeatedly called on
claimants to avoid actions that increase tensions in the South China Sea,
through which around $5tn (£3.97tn) in world trade is shipped every year.
A spokesperson for the US State Department,
Anna Richey-Allen, said it was aware of reports of reclamation work by Vietnam
and said the United States regularly raised concerns about such activity by
claimants. “We’ve consistently warned that reclamation and militarisation in
contested areas of the South China Sea will risk driving a destabilising and
escalatory trend,” she said. “We encourage all claimants to take steps to lower
tensions and peacefully resolve differences.”
Vietnam has emerged as China’s main rival in
the South China Sea, actively asserting sovereignty over both the Paracel and
the Spratly groupings in their entirety and undergoing its own naval
modernisation. Taiwan also claims both but its position is historically aligned
with Beijing’s.
The Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative,
run by the CSIS, says Vietnam has added about 120 acres (49 hectares) of land
to its South China Sea holdings in recent years.
Regional military attaches say Vietnam’s main
holdings are well fortified, some with tunnels and bunkers, appearing geared to
deterring easy invasion. Vietnam’s reclamation work remains modest by Chinese
standards, however.
The United States, which has criticised China
for militarising the waterway, estimates Beijing has added more than 3,200
acres of land on seven features in the South China Sea over the past three
years, building runways, ports, aircraft hangars and communications equipment.
Beijing says it is entitled
to “limited and necessary self-defensive facilities” on its territory and has
reacted angrily to “freedom of navigation” operations by US warships near Chinese-held islands.
