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Reuters in Washington

Newly released satellite images show Vietnam has carried out significant land reclamation at two sites in the disputed South China Sea, though the scale and pace of the work is dwarfed by that of China, a US research institute said.
The photographs, shared by Washington’s Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), show an expansion of the land area of Vietnamese-controlled Sand Cay and West London Reef in the Spratly archipelago and the addition of buildings.
Mira Rapp-Hooper, director of CSIS’s Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative, said the work included military installations and appeared to have started before China began a flurry of reclamation projects last year.

The photographs, taken by satellite imagery firm DigitalGlobe, were taken between 2010 and April 30 this year.
"On one site, it has constructed a significant new area that was formerly underwater and at another it has used land reclamation to add acreage to an existing island," Rapp-Hooper said.
The speed of recent Chinese reclamation work has alarmed its neighbours and the United States, which sees it as a potential threat to the status quo in a region through which US$5 trillion of sea-borne trade passes each year.
China claims 90 per cent of the South China Sea, which is thought to be rich in oil and gas, with overlapping claims from Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam and Taiwan.
New Vietnamese military facilities at Sand Cay appeared to include defensive positions and gun emplacements, and new buildings visible on West London Reef could also have military applications, Rapp-Hooper said.
Late last month, after weeks of criticism about its reclamation work, China hit back by accusing Vietnam, the Philippines and others of carrying out illegal building work on "Chinese" islands in the South China Sea.

"Strictly speaking, these photos show that China is right," Rapp-Hooper said, "but we can safely say that the scope and scale of what China has undertaken is totally unprecedented and dwarfs Vietnam’s activities many times over."
She said the images showed that Vietnam had reclaimed about 65,000 square metres of land at West London Reef and 21,000 square metres at Sand Cay. This compared to 900,000 square metres reclaimed by China at a single reef, Fiery Cross.
Rapp-Hooper said satellite images showed that since about March 2014, China had conducted reclamation work at seven sites in the Spratlys and was constructing a military-sized air strip on one artificial island and possibly a second on another.
She said Vietnam already had an airstrip on the Spratlys.
The US State Department and Pentagon had no immediate comment on the latest images.
US President Barack Obama last month accused China of "flexing its muscles" to advance its maritime claims and Washington has been helping countries in the region, including Vietnam, strengthen their defense capabilities.


Images show how Vietnam is reclaiming land in disputed South China Sea

This 2015 satellite image shows an expansion of land area in the Vietnamese-controlled West London Reef region of the Spratly archipelago in the South China Sea. Photo: Reuters  

The West London Reef is pictured before 2010 prior to the land expansion. Photo: Reuters 

Photo showing the runway under construction at Fiery Cross Reef in the disputed Spratley Islands in the south China Sea by China. Photo: EPA

Satellite photos show China reclaiming land around disputed Mischief Reef

This image provided by the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) shows what it described as a chain of small artificial land formations as well as new structures, fortified seawalls and construction equipment on Mischief Reef, on March 16, 2015. Photo: Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative/Digital Globe

A platform at the southern entrance to the reef, on March 16, 2015. CSIS says the entrance has been widened to about 275 metres. Photo: Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative/Digital Globe

Mischief Reef as it appeared on January 24, 2012, showing “no dredging or significant marine engineering”, according to CSIS. Photo: Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative/Digital Globe

Philippines urges Asean to stop China's land reclamation in South China Sea

Philippine Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario urged the grouping of Asean foreign ministers to "stand up" to China by urging it to halt its reclamation work. Photo: AFP

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