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This article has been re-published with permission from ABS-CBNnews.com.But they said they’re still our friends, right?
“According to new satellite images taken on September 8 and analyzed by the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), China appears to be building a third airstrip in disputed waters in the South China Sea,” reports Katie Hunt on CNN Philippines.
The report noted: “The images come after China pledged to bring land reclamation in those waters to a halt, and will make for uncomfortable discussions when Chinese President Xi Jinping visits Washington next week.”
Greg Poling, the director of CSIS’s Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative, explained that “China had reclaimed a flat rectangle of land with a retaining wall about 3,000 meters (3,280 yards) in length on Mischief Reef. It’s similar to airstrips that China has been building on artificial islands at the Fiery Cross and Subi reefs in the contested Spratly Islands.”
Poling was quoted as saying, “If it does turn out to be a runway, China will have three airstrips that can carry any plane the PLA (People’s Liberation Army).”
