10/04/2018
Disclosure comes as Chinese military conducts what U.S. officials describe as its largest military exercise to date in South China Sea.
China has installed equipment on two of its fortified outposts in the Spratly Islands capable of jamming communications and radar systems, a significant step in its creeping militarization of the South China Sea, U.S. officials say.
The move strengthens China’s ability to assert its extensive territorial claims and hinder U.S. military operations in a contested region that includes some of the world’s busiest shipping routes.
The disclosure comes as the Chinese military is conducting what U.S. officials describe as its largest military exercise to date in the South China Sea, maneuvers that include China’s first aircraft carrier as well as air force and ground units.
A U.S. Defense Department official, describing the finding, said: “China has deployed military jamming equipment to its Spratly Island outposts.”
The U.S. assessment is supported by a photo taken last month by the commercial satellite company DigitalGlobe and provided to The Wall Street Journal. It shows a suspected jammer system with its antenna extended on Mischief Reef, one of seven Spratly outcrops where China has built fortified artificial islands since 2014, moving sand onto rocks and reefs and paving them over with concrete.
China’s Defense Ministry didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Read more at The Wall Street Journal
Click here for updated South China Sea news
The 3rd event in the Ocean Dialogue series focused on recent developments in the South China Sea from a legal perspective and how stakeholders could cooperate to manage disputes in the region.
Vietnam asks China, as a large nation in the region and the world, to perform its responsibility in maintaining peace and stability in the East Sea, stated Foreign Ministry’s Spokesperson Le Thi Thu Hang on May 8.
Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull asserted the right of the Australian navy to travel the South China Sea, after local media reported three Australian warships were challenged by the Chinese navy earlier this month.
China and Vietnam vowed on Sunday (Apr 1) to keep the peace in the South China Sea, the resource-rich waterway that has long been a source of tension between Hanoi and its powerhouse communist neighbour.
Philippine Foreign Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano hailed a “golden period” in ties with China on Wednesday despite differences over the South China Sea as the countries discussed how they might conduct joint development projects in the disputed waters.
A U.S. guided-missile destroyer conducted a freedom of navigation operation past an artificial island controlled by China on Friday, a U.S. defense official confirmed to USNI News.