Report: Beijing adds weapons to South China Sea islands

FILE - In this undated file photo released by Xinhua News Agency, a Chinese H-6K bomber patrols the islands and reefs in the South China Sea. A U.S. think tank says recent images appear to show that China has installed anti-aircraft and anti-missile weapons on its man-made islands in the South China Sea. The Center for Strategic and International Studies said in a report this week that the anti-aircraft guns and a close-in weapons systems designed to guard against missile attack have been placed on all seven of the islands that China has created by piling sand on top of coral reefs. (Liu Rui/Xinhua via AP, File) FILE - In this undated file photo released by Xinhua News Agency, a Chinese H-6K bomber patrols the islands and reefs in the South China Sea. A U.S. think tank says recent images appear to show that China has installed anti-aircraft and anti-missile weapons on its man-made islands in the South China Sea. The Center for Strategic and International Studies said in a report this week that the anti-aircraft guns and a close-in weapons systems designed to guard against missile attack have been placed on all seven of the islands that China has created by piling sand on top of coral reefs. (Liu Rui/Xinhua via AP, File)

By Associated Press December 15, 2016 5 min read

BEIJING (AP) – A U.S. think tank says recent satellite images appear to show that China has installed anti-aircraft and anti-missile weapons on its man-made islands in the strategically vital South China Sea, upping the stakes in what many see as a potential Asian powder keg.

The Center for Strategic and International Studies said in a report late Wednesday that the anti-aircraft guns and close-in weapons systems designed to guard against missile attack have been placed on all seven of China’s newly created islands.

The outposts were built in recent years by piling sand on top of coral reefs followed by the construction of military grade 3,000-meter (10,000-foot) airstrips, barracks, lighthouses radar stations and other infrastructure.

CSIS based its conclusions on satellite images taken of the islands in mid-to-late November and published on the website of its Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative.

China’s new island armaments “show that Beijing is serious about defense of its artificial islands in case of an armed contingency in the South China Sea,” CSIS experts wrote in the report.