Breakneck construction on disputed atolls has China’s neighbors -- and the United States -- worried about just what Beijing is up to in the world’s watery flash point.
- By Keith JohnsonKeith Johnson is a senior reporter covering energy for Foreign Policy.
- February 20, 2015
China’s frantic construction activity on a series of disputed reefs in the South China Sea has set off alarm bells across the Pacific and in Washington, raising fears that Beijing is putting steel in the ground to back up its contentious claims to a big swath of one of the world’s key waterways.
Since last summer, China has been busy transforming underwater reefs hundreds of miles from its coastline into artificial islands. Dredging vessels have been sucking out sand to create land where none was found before, and China is building new installations on the islands, including possibly airstrips, barracks, and radar sites.
