China accused of fresh territorial grab in South China Sea

File photo from 2021 shows Chinese vessels anchored around 320 kilometers west of Palawan. - AFP

WASHINGTON (Bloomberg): China is building up several unoccupied land features in the South China Sea, according to Western officials, an unprecedented move they said was part of Beijing’s long-running effort to strengthen claims to disputed territory in a region critical to global trade.

While China has previously built out disputed reefs, islands and land formations in the area that it had long controlled - and militarised them with ports, runways and other infrastructure - the officials presented images of what they called the first known instances of a nation doing so on territory it doesn’t already occupy. 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 militarise them.