China urges further build-up on islands amid territorial disputes

BEIJING – China said on April 22 it will further build up more than 11,000 islands it calls its own, so as to better govern them, in a long-term campaign to strengthen maritime power, secure more natural resources and reinforce territorial claims.

China has built artificial islands, airstrips and military facilities during extensive land reclamation efforts over the years in disputed waters in the South China Sea.

Islands are a strategic frontier and key to unlocking the development of deep-ocean resources, the People’s Daily, owned by the party, said in an article attributed to the party leadership at China’s natural resources ministry.

“Major countries around the world are vying to shift their development focus to the ocean,” it added, without identifying any countries.

It urged greater efforts to protect the islands China claims, by upgrading infrastructure and boosting connectivity and access.

China is spending billions of dollars on its navy, from nuclear-powered submarines to aircraft carriers as it pursues a goal of becoming a “great maritime power” dating from 2012, when Chinese President Xi Jinping became leader of the ruling Communist Party.

In September 2025, Beijing declared a national nature reserve at the disputed Scarborough Shoal to assert its claim to the atoll, a long-time flashpoint with the Philippines.

“The facilities on its artificial island bases have allowed Chinese law enforcement, naval and militia vessels to spend every day of the year patrolling the waters of its neighbours up to 1,000 nautical miles from the Chinese coastline,” said Mr Gregory Poling of the Center for Strategic and International Studies think-tank.

But China’s presence in the busy waterway did not deter a senior Taiwan official from making a ‌rare visit to the Taiwan-controlled island of Itu Aba, part of the contested Spratly Islands.

Itu Aba has a runway long enough to allow military re-supply flights from Taiwan, while a new wharf opened in 2023 can host a 4,000-ton patrol ship.

Democratically-governed Taiwan is claimed by China, despite the objections of the government in Taipei, which says only the island’s people can decide its future.

The Philippines, the US and partner nations started military drills this week, including maritime operations, across the Philippine archipelago.

The exercise projects a multinational front against China in a region that is a conduit for more than US$3 trillion (S$3.8 trillion) in annual ship-borne commerce.

“Beijing seems to have hit a point of diminished returns,” said Mr Poling, who heads the think-tank’s South-east Asia programme.

“It has not succeeded in stopping a single South-east Asian energy project, resupply or construction mission, or the like, in at least four years.” REUTERS