China to build airfield on Fiery Cross Reef

To further project its power into the disputed South China Sea, China has decided to build an airfield on Fiery Cross Reef in the Spratlys after its land reclamation program according to the state-run China NewsWeek.

The Chinese foreign ministry claims China has a right to conduct any activity in its own territory and the People's Liberation Army has stated that countries like the Philippines and Vietnam, rival claimants to the island group along with Taiwan, Brunei and Malaysia, do not have any right to comment regarding the construction. The magazine stated that the land reclamation program on Fiery Cross Reef, which China calls Yongshu Reef, indicates that China is constructing a new airfield as a forward base for the PLA Navy and Air Force.


There are four airstrips in the Spratlys at present. The largest is located on Taiping, the largest of the Spratlys, which is administered by Taiwan. Malaysia, Vietnam and the Philippines each have one airstrip in the island group — Malaysia's on Swallow Reef, Vietnam's on Spratly Island and the Philippines' on Thitu. Though ten Spratly islands, reefs and shoals are currently under Chinese administration, the PLA Navy and Air Force do not have an airstrip.

The PLA has constructed an airport on Woody island in the Paracels which extends the combat radius of the PLA Navy's fighters, but it is still too far for them to provide close air support to the Chinese garrison in the Spratlys. To prevent joint military action against China in the South China Sea which could potentially be launched by Vietnam and the Philippines with the support of the United States, the magazine said that it is critical for the PLA to have an airfield in the region.

China is also looking to cooperate with Taiwan in the region, the report said. The airfield in Taiping was constructed at the order of former president Chen Shui-bian in 2006. After the airfield was completed, Chen became the first president of the Republic of China to visit the island in early 2008. Since then, Taiwan's government has begun to strengthen its defense of the island.

Beijing has been critical of the airfield on Taiping and its use by US forces to monitor PLA activities in the South China Sea. The Chinese government's attitude changed however after Ma Ying-jeou succeeded Chen. Beijing hopes that Ma, more friendly to Beijing than the independence-minded Chen, will be willing to cooperate to defend a joint Chinese claim to the Spratlys.

Ma has openly rejected the idea of cooperation with the mainland in the South China Sea, however. A source told the magazine that direct cooperation between Taiwan and mainland China in the South China Sea is impossible within the next 15-20 years because the current Kuomintang regime in Taiwan is still strongly influenced by the US — a claim local commentators would call something of a simplification. Cooperation can only be realized in the event of unification, according to the source.

Unlike Hong Kong, Taiwan will be allowed to keep its security forces in the event of unification, according to prior statements by late Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping. A thinktank under the PLA is now studying how Taiwanese security forces could work together with the Chinese military under the "one country, two systems" policy (again, something which was recently explicitly rejected by the Ma administration). They projected that the Taiwanese garrison on Taiping island could provide logistic support to the PLA through its airfield and port against any potential invasion by Vietnam and the Philippines.

Zhang Jiuhuan, a retired Chinese diplomat, told the magazine that Beijing should express its gratitude to the Taiwanese coast guards agents who defend Taiping for a common greater China. Our sister newspaper Want Daily said that military cooperation across the strait is easier said than done as there must be a certain level of mutual trust reached between Beijing and Taipei before any military cooperation can take place.