MANILA, Philippines - China is fast-tracking construction of infrastructure projects in the newly founded city of Sansha in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea) despite protests from the Philippines.
A statement posted on the Chinese government’s official web portal said Sansha authorities started crafting development plans last Saturday.
“Authorities (of) the newly established city of Sansha, located in the South China Sea, on Saturday began mapping out development plans for four infrastructure projects and started a housing program as the building of the island city revs up,” read the statement.
China said the infrastructure projects include road construction, water supply and drainage on Yongxing island, the seat of the city government.
“A desalinator capable of processing 1,000 cubic meters of seawater a day will be built on the island to ensure fresh water supplies,” read the statement.
China said seven roads with a total length of five kilometers will be repaired or built to improve the island’s traffic situation.
“The projects also include the construction of inter-island transportation and a dock, as well as the development of Zhaoshu Island,” read the statement.
Xiao Jie, the appointed mayor of Sansha, has also announced the start of a housing construction program with a total investment of 18.7 million yuan or $2.97 million.
“Over the past two months, the government has been working to build the island into a city of harmony between human and nature,” said Zhang Geng, executive vice mayor of Sansha.
China set up Sansha on July 24 to tighten its grip on disputed areas in the West Philippine Sea.
The “prefecture level” city was intended to administer three disputed islands in the West Philippine Sea.
China earlier announced that Xisha (Paracels), Zhongsha (Macclesfield bank), and Nansha (Spratlys) islands have been elevated to “prefecture status” under Sansha City from their previous county-level status.
Chinese officials said the establishment of Sansha, which means “city of three sands,” would enhance China’s administrative management on the three islands.
The Philippines has protested the creation of the city.
It would infringe into its sovereign rights over the waters and continental shelf in the West Philippine Sea, the Philippines added.
The Department of Foreign Affairs said the creation of Sansha violates Philippine sovereignty over the Kalayaan Group in the Spratlys and Panatag Shoal, also known by the names Scarborough Shoal and Bajo de Masinloc.
Kalayaan is a fifth class municipality in Palawan and is located on Pag-asa island, one of the country’s regime of islands and reefs located in the disputed Spratlys being claimed in whole or in part by China, Malaysia, Vietnam, Brunei and Taiwan.
Filipino soldiers and civilians live in Kalayaan. The Philippines has built a town hall, a 1.3-kilometer airstrip, a naval station, a health center and recently a kindergarten school on Pag-asa island.
Panatag Shoal is located 124 nautical miles from the nearest base point in Zambales, well within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone.
The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) backs Philippine ownership of the shoal.
On April 10, Chinese surveillance vessels barred the Philippine Navy from arresting Chinese fishermen who had illegally harvested endangered marine species in Panatag Shoal.
The Philippines has protested the action of Chinese ships, but China insisted that it has sovereignty over the area.
The Philippines had issued 10 protests against China for violation of its sovereignty under UNCLOS. The latest is China’s establishment of Sansha City, which covered almost all of West Philippine Sea.
Armed Forces Western Command chief Lt. Gen. Juancho Sabban confirmed yesterday that China is putting up new equipment in the Spratly islands.
“Every time we take periodic pictures of all the islands in the Spratlys, we notice some changes,” he said.
“We observed changes in structures. What I can say is the Philippines complies with the (declaration of the) Code of Conduct of claimant countries.”
Speaking over radio dzBB, Sabban said among the new objects they saw were a satellite dish and two posts with platforms.
However, he declined to say where these new items were spotted.