Vietnam in big push to expand South China Sea outposts - U.S. think tank - Yahoo News

By David Brunnstrom

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Vietnam has conducted a large enlargement of dredging and landfill enactment astatine respective of its South China Sea outposts successful the 2nd fractional of this year, signaling an intent to importantly fortify its claims successful the disputed waterway, a U.S. deliberation vessel reported connected Wednesday.

Washington's Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) said the enactment successful the Spratly Islands, which are besides claimed by China and others, had created astir 420 acres (170 hectares) of caller onshore and brought the full country Vietnam had reclaimed successful the past decennary to 540 acres (220 hectares).

Basing its findings connected commercialized outer imagery, CSIS's Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative (AMTI) said the effort included expanded landfill enactment astatine 4 features and caller dredging astatine 5 others.

"The standard of the landfill work, portion inactive falling acold abbreviated of the much than 3,200 acres of onshore created by China from 2013 to 2016, is importantly larger than erstwhile efforts from Vietnam and represents a large determination toward reinforcing its presumption successful the Spratlys," the study said.

Vietnam's Washington embassy did not instantly respond to a petition for remark connected the report.

AMTI said Vietnam's midsized outposts astatine Namyit Island, Pearson Reef and Sand Cay were undergoing large expansions, with a dredged larboard susceptible of hosting larger vessels already taking signifier astatine Namyit and Pearson.

Namyit Island, astatine 117 acres (47 hectares) and Pearson Reef, astatine 119 acres (48 hectares), were some present larger than Spratly Island astatine 97 acres (39 hectares), which had been Vietnam's largest outpost. Tennent Reef, which antecedently lone hosted 2 tiny pillbox structures, present had 64 acres (26 hectares)of artificial land, the study said.

AMTI said Vietnam utilized clamshell dredgers to scoop up sections of shallow reef and deposit the sediment for landfill, a little destructive process than the cutter-suction dredging China had utilized to physique its artificial islands.

"But Vietnam’s dredging and landfill activities successful 2022 are important and awesome an intent to importantly fortify its occupied features successful the Spratlys," the study said.

"(W)hat infrastructure the expanded outposts volition big remains to beryllium seen. Whether and to what grade China and different claimants respond volition carnivore watching," it said.

China claims astir of the South China Sea and has established subject outposts connected artificial islands it has built there. Taiwan, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and the Philippines each person overlapping claims successful the sea, which is crisscrossed by captious shipping lanes and contains state fields and affluent sportfishing grounds.

(Reporting by David Brunnstrom; editing by Jonathan Oatis)