This content was originally published by Radio Free Asia, and it is now being reprinted with permission.
New satellite photographs analyzed by a American think tank reveal that China is turning one of the disputed Paracel Islands into a significant knowledge base in the northwestern region of the South China Sea.
A , fresh report , by Chatham House found that Beijing has been building a large new radar program on Triton– the southwest and southern island in the Paracel archipelago, less than 250 km ( 155 miles ) from Vietnam’s beach.  ,
Vietnam and Taiwan also assert sovereignty over the Paracels, but China later ceded control of the island network, seizing it from the South Vietnamese government in 1974. In May 2014, Beijing’s installation of a cutting system close to Triton Island caused a grave conflict with Hanoi and sparked an unprecedented wave of anti-China rallies.
Zhongjian Dao, or Triton Island, is another name for China’s center point for drawing a direct line of reference to assert its territorial waterways around the Paracel Islands. This state was rejected by a 2016 U.N. mediation court, and the US contests its use of area freedom-of-navigation measures.
The increased radar center on Triton, according to Chatham House’s report, do “offer a problem to China’s competitors in the region and internationally”.
An advanced radar system known as SIAR, or chemical desire and lens sensor, which is claimed to detect cunning aircraft, is shown in telescope images provided by American company Maxar Technologies and examined by the record authors.
The SIAR is distinguished by its unique circular form, which is comparable to the one the Chinese military constructed in 2017 on Subi Reef in the Spratly territories.
A sensor tower, which is currently under construction, as well as facilities to store and start anti-ship missiles or compact radars have been identified on Triton.
Relevance for Vietnam
The Triton radar system is the most recent of a network of at least three counter-stealth scanners, including those located on Subi and Hainan islands. It “would tremendously increase China’s capabilities for signals catch and electronic war across the disputed Paracel Islands archipelago and add to a wider tracking system spanning much of the South China Sea,” according to the report.
According to Michael Dahm, a senior resident fellow at the U.S. Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies, the one on Triton will close the surveillance gap between Subi Reef and Hainan Island and “provide China contiguous counter-stealth radar coverage of the South China Sea” because SIAR radars cannot see over the curve of the Earth.
Vietnam would be the first to suffer in the aftermath of the report’s prediction that the intelligence services on Triton “would significantly decrease” the country’s ability to operate undetected in the area.
Beijing now has the ability to track Vietnamese air movements, including attempts to access oil and gas deposits, according to Triton’s existing radar, which can detect sea-going vessels.
Bill Hayton, an analyst at Chatham House, suggested that recent developments on Triton “might serve as a reassuring sign that China is planning to launch another drilling expedition.”
Radio Free Asia contacted Vietnamese authorities for comment, but it has not yet received a response.
Last August, international media reported on the construction of a 600-meter ( 656 yard ) runway on Triton that, albeit too short for patrol aircraft, could host drones.  ,
The assumed “runway” turned out to be a road but Hanoi at the time voiced concern, saying that,” all activities in the Paracel Islands conducted without Vietnamese permission are violations of Vietnam’s sovereignty”.
China has also accused Vietnam of attacking one of its fishing boats last month close to the Paracels, which injured 10 fishermen. China refuted the claim, saying that Vietnamese men were illegally fishing in Chinese waters.