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China has been carrying out reclamation at four previously unoccupied features in the Spratly Islands, including two that are claimed by the Philippines, in what “Western officials” said were efforts by Beijing to change the status quo in the South China Sea, according to a Bloomberg report.
The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Wednesday said the Philippines was “seriously concerned” and that the reclamation violated a 2002 agreement between China and Southeast Asian nations not to occupy new features or raise tension in the South China Sea and also the 2016 arbitral award.
The report comes two weeks ahead of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s visit to Beijing for talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
The Chinese Embassy in Manila dismissed the report as “fake news,” citing a Twitter post by the South China Sea Probing Initiative (SCSPI), a research group based in China.
The report on Tuesday night said the fresh reclamations were taking place on Malvar (Eldad) Reef in the northern Spratlys, Julian Felipe (Whitsun) Reef, Sandy Cay, and Panata (Lankiam Cay) Island.
Sandy Cay and Panata Island are claimed by the Philippines, while Julian Felipe Reef is within the country’s 370-kilometer exclusive economic zone (EEZ).
Panata is 13 km northeast of Philippine-occupied Loaita Island and 53.3 km from the Chinese-held Zamora (Subi) Reef.
About 450 km to the east of Lankiam Cay is Palawan, the nearest major landmass.
The military’s Western Command said that it had observed a “persistent presence of China militia vessels” in the areas identified in the Bloomberg report.
“As of this time, validation and assessment of all information gathered from those areas are ongoing,” it said in response to a query from the Inquirer.
The report, quoting unidentified Western officials, said “some sandbars and other formations in the area expanded more than 10 times in size in recent years.”
“They warned that Beijing’s latest construction activity indicates an attempt to advance a new status quo, even though it’s too early to know whether China would seek to militarize them,” it said.
The officials said the reclamation is “part of Beijing’s long-running effort to strengthen claims to disputed territory in a region critical to global trade.
