This content was originally published by Radio Free Asia, and it is now licensed for reprint.
A U.S. separate think tank reported that Vietnam’s area construction in the South China Sea reached a report with the entire novel area created in the first six months of this year being equal to that of 2022 and 2023 combined.
The Washington- based Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative ( AMTI ) said in its , latest report , that since November 2023, Vietnam has created 692 new acres ( 280 ha ) of land across a total of 10 features within the Spratly archipelago.
In comparison, it created 404 acres ( 163.5 ha ) of land in the first 11 months of 2023 and 342 acres ( 138.4 ha ) in 2022.
About half of the place that China has built up has been reclaimed by Vietnam, with much of its work being done on reefs that China even claims.
Of the two main island groups in the South China Sea, China occupies the Columns, while the , Spratlys, to the south, are contested by several , states.
Vietnam has occupied 27 properties and has been conducting extensive restoration work on some of them for the past month.
Among the 10 largest capabilities in the Spratlys, five are being developed by Hanoi, AMTI said. Vietnam’s characteristics are significantly smaller than any of Beijing’s so-called Big Three synthetic islands, which Beijing created and formally militarized.  ,
Vietnam’s overall dredging and landfill totaled about 2, 360 acres ( 955 ha ), roughly half of China’s 4, 650 acres ( 1881.7 ha ).  ,
The research team said , Vietnam’s restoration was a big change. Only three years ago, Vietnam’s complete dredging and landfill was only one-tenth of China’s.  ,  ,
Vietnam’s work includes the Barque Canada Reef, or Bai Thuyen Chai in Vietnamese, where the area nearly doubled over six months, from 238 acres (96.3 ha ) to 412 acres ( 166.7 ha ),  , the group said.
Aside from stating that it only wants to protect the features, but not to change them, it says little about Vietnam’s work.  , There was no fast federal response to the AMTI record.
Runway possible
Six months ago, Radio Free Asia reported on the , quick expansion , of Barque Canada Reef from the close of 2021. Hanoi perhaps be building a following airport on the coast, according to Chinese think container the South China Sea Probing Initiative, but recent satellite pictures shows no indication of that.
Vietnam has one , 1, 300- meter runway on the Spratly Island, or Truong Sa Lon in Vietnamese, which can handle medium- sized military aircraft.
The Barque Canada Reef “measures 4, 318 meters in length, which makes it the only Vietnamese outpost so far with the potential to host a 3, 000- meter runway” like those that China has, the think tank said.
China’s three largest artificial islands are all equipped with runways that can accommodate bigger military transport, surveillance, and bomber aircraft.
According to the report, Discovery Great Reef, South Reef, Namyit Reef, and Pearson Reef are other areas under Hanoi’s control that have seen significant development since November 2023.
According to AMTI researchers, Vietnam has” continued to implement a mix of cutter-suction and clamshell dredging.”
With a rotating head, a cutter suction dredger cuts the seabed into fragments. Dredge pumps pump up material before discharged through pipes across the sea and land.
According to scientists, China has been criticized for using cutter suction dregs because they are more environmentally destructive.
The Vietnamese public seems supportive of the , island building. In the face of China’s assertiveness in the South China Sea, many social media commentators praise” the right strategy.”
Six parties – Brunei, China, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam – claim parts of the South China Sea as well as the islands and reefs inside it but China’s claims are the most expansive.
When questioned about Vietnam’s dredging and landfill work, a Philippine official claimed that Hanoi was reclaiming features it had before the South China Sea Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the 1990s.
According to Jay Tarriela, a spokesperson for the Philippine coastguard,” Vietnam focuses on minding their own affairs.”  ,
They do not harass our fishermen or use illegally coast guard ships or maritime militia in the waters surrounding our occupied maritime features, he said. In Philippine waters, particularly near the Scarborough and Second Thomas shoals, the Philippines has accused China of harassing fishermen and law enforcement. China says , it has “indisputable jurisdiction” over all the reefs and atolls in the Spratlys.
