The report, by the centre’s Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative, documents how once-isolated Vietnamese outposts, previously little more than pillboxes on rocks or low-tide elevations, have been transformed into artificial islands at Alison, Collins, East, Landsdowne and Petley reefs.
Vietnam has also expanded three existing sites – Amboyna Cay, Grierson Reef and West Reef – where earlier dredging had created medium-sized islands.
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Why the South China Sea dispute remains one of the region’s most pressing issues
Why the South China Sea dispute remains one of the region’s most pressing issues
The Spratlys, a scattering of reefs and islets, are one of the most widely contested features in the South China Sea. In addition to Vietnam, fellow Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ members the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei all hold competing claims, while Beijing asserts sovereignty over nearly the entire waterway.
