Your web browser is no longer supported. To improve your experience update it here

Satellite imagery reveals China building 'full-blown military bases' in disputed sea

New satellite imagery points to China building "full-blown military bases" on artificial islands in the South China Sea.
Construction of radar antennae mounts on Mischief Reef could be part of a military installation, a report by geospatial software company Simularity claims.
The ring-shaped reef, 250 kilometres from the Philippines, has been claimed and occupied by China since 1995.
Mischief Reef is in the Spratly Islands off the coast of the Philippines. (Simularity) (Supplied)
The satellite images show building work in seven areas between May 2020 and February 2021.
One image dated May 7, 2020 shows an empty plot of land, which is now occupied by a 16 metre-wide cylindrical structure.
According to Simularity, it could be a "possible antennae mount structure".
Another image shows a concrete structure with a weatherproof enclosure used to protect a radar antennae nearby.
A satellite photo of the Mischief Reef building site on May 7, 2020, left. The same site on February 4, 2021 with a possible antennae mount structure. (Supplied)
Simularity said this could "possibly be a fixed radar structure".
Other sites on Mischief Reef appear in mid-construction or have been cleared for development.
China has claimed almost all of the South China Sea, and since 2014 has built up tiny reefs and sandbars into man-made artificial islands heavily fortified with missiles, runways and weapons systems - prompting outcry from the other governments.
At least six other governments also have overlapping territorial claims in the contested waterway: the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei and Taiwan.
9News app
Click or tap on the banner to find out how to download the 9News app for breaking and localised news alerts. (9News)
Trade shipments worth trillions of dollars pass through the South China Sea every year.
Mischief Reef has been at the centre of tensions between China and the Philippines.
This heat map appears to show new building work on Mischief Reef. (Simularity) (Supplied)
In 2016, the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague ruled that it is within the exclusive economic zone of the Philippines.
Relations between China and the Philippines remain strained.
The staggering sums countries spend on defending themselves
Last month, China passed a law that gave its navy and coast guard the power to take all necessary measures to defend its sovereignty in the disputed waters.
CONTACT US

Send your stories to contact@9news.com.au

Auto news: The terrifying moment a Ferrari narrowly misses a jogger.