CHINA appears to be building military-grade radar on key shipping routes, in a move that’s filling other world powers with fear.
Satellite images show what look like high frequency radar, communication towers and observation posts under construction on Cuarteron Reef, the southern -most of a chain of seven disputed islands in the South China Sea.
The images were released by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in the US shortly after 3000m runways were spotted at nearby reefs built up by China.
China claims the construction work is purely for civilian use, but Gregory Poling from CSIS told news.com.au it would be “over the top” for non-military purposes in the region.
“We noticed the poles that seemed to indicate radar,” said Mr Poling, head of the CSIS Asian Maritime Transparency Initiative. “It will increase China’s ability to patrol and monitor the South China Sea.”
CSIS pinpointed what look like two radar towers, a bunker and a lighthouse in the north of the 200,000sq m island; several 20m radar poles and communications equipment in the south; a quay with loading crane in the west and a helipad in the island’s centre.
Cuarteron Reef is one of the Spratly Islands, which are also claimed by less powerful countries including Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam. Photos suggest China is building radar on some of these other islands, too.
“We’ll see these facilities come online over the course of a year,” said Mr Poling, who is based in Washington. “There’s no way of knowing if the high frequency radar are already in operation but we can tell some of the towers are not done yet.
“Along with the runways and infrastructure, the effect is going to be exponential in increasing China’s power in the region. It will increase its ability to project power further south.”
This growth in military capabilities will make it harder for not only China’s smaller neighbours to operate in the area, but for the US, Japan and Australia. It will give the Asian superpower control over planes and vessels in the Strait of Malacca between Malaysia and Indonesia, one of the most important shipping lanes in the world for goods including oil.
The radar will work like Australia’s “Jindalee” over-the-horizon system, bouncing radar waves off the ionosphere. They will be able to spot US stealth aircraft such as the B2 Spirit stealth bomber, F-22 Raptor and the F-35, so they can send in fighters with advanced infra-red seekers.
“It’s more advanced than what anybody else has in the South China Sea,” said Mr Poling. “Vietnam occupies 27 islands but in a far less sophisticated way.
“China has been pretty clear it aims to establish de facto, if not legal, control over the area.”
While other countries may be able to remain on nearby islands, their ability to resupply their islands and fish in the region will depend on China.
CSIS believes the radar facilities could have even more affect on the military balance in the South China Sea than China’s deployment of HQ-9 surface-to-air missiles on Woody Island in the nearby Paracels earlier this month.
A spokeswoman for China’s Foreign Ministry, Hua Chunying, yesterday called on the US to “stop sensationalising the South China Sea issue, stop hyping up tensions and work constructively for regional peace and stability.”
She added: “China’s deployment of limited defence facilities on its own territory is its exercise of self-defence right to which a sovereign state is entitled under international law. It has nothing to do with militarisation. It is something that comes naturally, and is completely justified and lawful.”
CSIS will continue monitoring the situation and trying to map the legitimacy of competing claims over territory in these vital waterways.
Mr Poling said a lack of understanding over what countries like China are doing is one of the biggest hurdles in policymaking for the West
http://www.news.com.au/technology/innovation/military/china-building-secret-military-weapons-on-tiny-islands/news-story/268d14bda4cf381b5ad5cae9a1860938
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