Chinese military buildup in South China Sea challenges Xi’s statement

Western diplomats and military officials told the Reuters news agency that Vietnam moved the launchers to five bases in the Spratly Islands in recent months.

But sources say they could be armed with rockets within two or three days. According to the Center for global and Strategic Studies, these hangars could be used to store a significant number of fighter jets, as well as a decent amount of large aircraft, such as tankers, cargo planes, and bombers.

“China has indisputable sovereignty over the Nansha Islands and their surrounding waters”, the Foreign Ministry’s spokespeople’s office said in a written statement on Wednesday. In June, however, the country’s Deputy Defense Minister, Senior Lieutenant-General Nguyen Chi Vinh, said that Vietnam reserved the right to do so.

“It is within our legitimate right to self-defense to move any of our weapons to any area at any time within our sovereign territory”, he said.

Reuters reported that the launchers are part of the EXTRA system – developed by Israel and purchased by Vietnam earlier this year – and had been shipped quietly to the islands and hidden from aerial surveillance. China claims the islands come within its exclusive economic zones, where Chinese people have had activities for 2,000 years. Vietnam’s military strategists fear the building of runways, radar and other military installations on those holdings have left Vietnam’s southern and island defences increasingly vulnerable.

In July, a case brought to an worldwide court by the Philippines found that China lacks any legal basis to its claims to a large chunk of the area.

But this visit to Vietnam is a bilateral visit of any Indian Prime Minister after fifteen years.And as India Veitnam complete a decade of strategic partnership, defence and security cooperation is expected to be high on PM Modi’s agenda.

Vietnam has been relatively cautious and measured in its verbal responses to the recent ruling by an worldwide panel at The Hague that rejected many of China’s claims in the South China Sea.

After a United Nations court rejected China’s claims over the South China Sea, justifying the contention of the Philippines, India asked all the parties to show utmost respect to the verdict and solved the dispute peacefully. “Such actions undermine regional confidence that China is willing to resolve contested matters in a non-coercive manner”. EXTRA rounds are often equipped with warheads packed with powerful explosives and are capable of being used to engage multiple targets simultaneously. It uses compact radars and so does not require a large operational footprint – also suitable for deployment on islets and reefs.

Siemon Wezeman, a senior arms researcher at the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), said: ‘When Vietnam acquired the EXTRA system, it was always thought that it would be deployed on the Spratlys.it is the flawless weapon for that’.

China took its first Spratlys possessions after a sea battle with Vietnam in 1988. Sixty-four Vietnamese soldiers were killed trying to defend the country’s flag on South Johnson reef.

In recent years Vietnam has significantly improved its naval capabilities as part of a broader military modernisation, including buying six advanced Kilo submarines from Russian Federation.