China is illegitimately working on a nine-story building on an artificial
island its forces previously built up atop submerged Hughes Reef, part of
Vietnam’s Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelago in the East Vietnam Sea that Beijing
has illegally occupied since 1988, a Vietnamese official has said.
The building, along
with two four-five floor blocks, is shown in photos taken by Tuoi Tre (Youth)
newspaper correspondents when they traveled past the reclaimed Hughes Reef on
May 13 on their way to Sinh Ton Dong Island, another part of Truong Sa.
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After illegally
reforming submerged Hughes Reef into an artificial island, China has built
these construction works on it.
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Through direct surveillance and according to many sources, it has become known that China has been working on the nine-story building on Hughes Reef after reclaiming it as an artificial island, Colonel Ngo Duy Do, deputy chairman of the Truong Sa Island District People’s Committee, told the Tuoi Tre reporters on Sinh Ton Dong Island.
The nine-story building is nearly completed, as shown in the photo taken by the reporters.
“The pace of
construction is very rapid,” Colonel Do, who is also deputy commander of
Brigade 146 in Naval Zone 4, said. The artificial island is L-shaped and has an
area of about 10 hectares. In front of the nine-floor building is a tower of
the same height.
China has brought
perennials, mainly coconuts, from the mainland to the island and grown them in
front of the three buildings.
As observed by
the Tuoitre reporters, the island was busy with construction
activity, including many large cranes, a concrete mixing plant, and two big
cargo ships that took coral and sand from the nearby waters to continue filling
in the artificial island.
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Many cranes of Chinese
construction units are seen on Hughes Reef, part of Vietnam's Truong Sa
archipelago in the East Vietnam Sea.
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China also dredged the
waters off the reef to create a route that is 900 meters long and 10 meters
deep for ships with a load of thousands of tons to dock at the island.
Beijing illegally
seized Hughes Reef, which belongs to the Sinh Ton Island clusters, part of
Truong Sa, on February 28, 1988.
During the above trip
to Truong Sa, Tuoi Tre also saw China’s accelerated
construction activities on other islands in Truong Sa, such as Chau Vien and Ga
Ven, which have also been occupied by China since 1988.
Construction on these
islands is being carried out around the clock, the reporters said.
Just a year ago these
islands were being filled in, and now many major construction works have
appeared on them.
Source: tuoitrenews
