Missile systems on Chinese-controlled reef 'reappeared' — report
MANILA, Philippines — China’s missile systems on one of its outposts in the disputed South China Sea have been reportedly redeployed, a few days after reports said they mysteriously disappeared.
The Philippines claims parts of the South China Sea within its exclusive economic zone and calls it the West Philippine Sea.
CNN on June 6 reported that satellite imagery from Israeli intelligence firm ImageSat International suggested that China might have removed or relocated its missile launchers on Woody Island, its largest base on the Paracel island chain.
But in a report dated June 11, CNN said that based on a fresh analysis from ISI, the weapons had “reappeared” on the Chinese-controlled reef.
China recently stoked international alarm after it reportedly landed nuclear-capable strategic bombers on Woody Island and installed anti-ship cruise missiles and surface-to-air missile systems on three Manila-claimed reefs in the strategic waterway, where trillion dollars worth of sea-borne goods pass every year.
According to the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative, the combat range of Chinese bombers can reach the Philippines, including the capital Manila and all five military bases earmarked for development under the US-Philippines Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement.
Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying earlier said that China has been involved in peaceful construction in the islands, which includes “the deployment of necessary national defense facilities.”
In response, the White House had warned Asia’s top economic power of “near-term and long-term consequences” over its growing militarization in the South China Sea. The US did not say what the consequences would be.
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