“Millions of tonnes of rock and sand have been dredged up from the sea floor and pumped into the reef to form new land. There are cement-pumping trucks, cranes, large steel pipes, and the flash of welding torches.” These are the words of BBC journalist Rupert Wingfield-Hayes describing China’s construction activities at the Johnson South Reef in a disputed area of the South China Sea.

Until early 2014 the only manmade feature at the reef was a small concrete platform that housed a communications facility, garrison building, and pier, according to James Hardy and Sean O’Connor, analysts at IHS Jane’s Defence Weekly. But the platform has now been surrounded by an island that is approximately 400 meters across at its widest points and has an area of about 100,000 square meters, the analysts said in a recent report.

Read more: http://www.dw.de/beijing-seeking-to-change-facts-in-south-china-sea/a-17935857