This content was originally published by Radio Free Asia, and it is now being reprinted with permission.
According to a U.S. think tank, Vietnam appears “determined to boost the corporate potential of the functions it occupies” in areas of the South China Sea that China even claims.
The Washington-based Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative, or AMTI, said in a , fresh report , there are signs Hanoi is developing airstrips on several of the arbitrary islands, and” symptoms of possible military constructions” have also been spotted across a number of characteristics.
Radio Free Asia reported on Oct. 25 on the development of a airport on , Barque Canada coast,  , the largest-to-date restored area under Vietnam’s power in the Spratly island.
Known as Bai Thuyen Chai in Vietnamese, the coast has undergone rigorous growth since 2021 and its current total garbage area is estimated at nearly 2.5 sq km, or 617.7 hectares.
The airport has since been lengthened from 1, 050 feet to about 1, 600 m and could be extended to 3, 000 feet or more, huge enough to accommodate larger plane.
Until now, Vietnam has only one 1, 300-meter airstrip on the islands in the South China Sea, on an island called Spratly. The new runway” significantly expands Vietnam’s options for deployment of combat aircraft to the Spratly Islands,” according to AMTI, adding that it “may not be the only runway Hanoi has planned for the Spratlys.”
According to the AMTI, there are potential plans to build airstrips on Pearson reef and Ladd reef, two additional reclaimed islands. Both of the features are quickly becoming obsolete.
Military structures
Besides the runways, AMTI said in its report that new formations of berms, or raised barriers, encasing six areas “are visible in recent imagery of Barque Canada Reef, Central Reef, Tennent Reef, Namyit Island, South Reef, and Ladd Reef”.
” Given the coastal orientation of most formations, it’s possible these areas could be intended to house anti-ship artillery or missile platforms”, the group said.
According to experts, military installations and runways in the Spratlys would strengthen Vietnam’s strategic abilities in the South China Sea in response to China’s projection of power in the region.
Beijing has fully developed and militarized at least three artificial islands, known as” The Big Three”, including Fiery Cross, Subi reef and Mischief reef in the Spratly archipelago.
” Three years from when it first started, Vietnam is still surprising observers with the ever-increasing scope of its dredging and landfill in the Spratly Islands,” said AMTI.
The think tank noted that the extent of new capabilities Vietnam would have remains to be seen as reclamation work moves quickly on new features and “in unexpected directions.”
