HANOI (Reuters) – Vietnam has been ramping up its dredging and landfill work within the Spratly Islands within the South China Sea, creating one other 330 acres of land since December final 12 months, a U.S. suppose tank mentioned in a report.
The enlargement, a lot bigger than 120 acres it had created between 2012 and 2022, made Vietnam second solely to China by way of island buildup within the Spratly Islands, Washington’s Heart for Strategic and Worldwide Research (CSIS) mentioned within the report this week, citing satellite tv for pc imagery.
Vietnam’s Ministry of International Affairs didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
China claims sovereignty over huge swathes of the South China Sea, together with the areas the place Vietnam has been build up islands.
The ocean is without doubt one of the world’s most contested waterways, the place greater than $3 trillion of commerce passes annually. China, Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam have lodged competing claims for some or all the Spratly Islands.
The latest enlargement by Vietnam was probably the most noticeable at Barque Canada Reef, referred to as Bai Thuyen Chai in Vietnam, the place the report, produced by CSIS’s Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative (AMTI), mentioned 210 acres of land was created prior to now 12 months.
The report mentioned Vietnam had began utilizing cutter suction dredgers to “speed up its dredging efforts”, and final month, it started dredging at two extra options, together with South Reef and Central Reef.
It mentioned Vietnam’s efforts have remained targeted on dredging and landfill, with development of infrastructure but to start.
China created greater than 3,200 acres of land from 2013 to 2016 within the space, the suppose tank mentioned.
In August, the Philippines, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam rejected a map launched by China that denotes its claims to sovereignty together with within the South China Sea.
(Reporting by Khanh Vu; modifying by Robert Birsel)