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Kristine Kwok

Liu Zhen

Reuters

Beijing has defended the deployment of armaments in the South China Sea after the United States and Taiwan said it had installed surface-to-air missiles on a disputed island in the Paracel chain.
Analysts said Beijing’s move had been a long time coming and more military facilities would be mounted in the Paracels, where China considers its claims are less disputable than in other parts of the sea.
News about the missile deployment on Woody Island, also known as Yongxing in China, was first reported by Fox News, which cited a US official, and confirmed by Taiwan’s defence ministry yesterday.
READ MORE: China ‘sends warning’ with release of photographs of disputed South China Sea island
The mainland defence ministry said defence facilities on “relevant islands and reefs” had been in place for many years to safeguard China’s territorial sovereignty, adding that the latest reports about missile deployment were nothing but “hype”.
Watch: China defends actions on disputed island


Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei said yesterday he was not aware of the specifics of the deployment but that any arms would be used for defence and were not part of a military build-up.
Foreign Minister Wang Yi said news of the deployment had been “created” by certain Western media and they should instead focus on the civilian facilities China had been building in the area.
The Fox News report said it had obtained satellite images indicating that the Hongqi-9 air defence system had been set up on Woody Island, which is controlled by China but also claimed by Tiawan and Vietnam. The system has a range of 200km.

Xu Guangyu, a retired People’s Liberation Army general, said the system was commonly used on Chinese islands and would be a normal addition to Woody Island, which houses the municipal government of Sansha city in Hainan. The city was set up in 2012, nominally to administer several island chains in the South China Sea.
The news came as US President Barack Obama called for a halt to reclamation and militarisation in the South China Sea as he concluded a summit with leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
Woody Island is not a reclaimed island.

The leaders issued a statement at the end of the two-day event calling for a peaceful resolution of sovereignty disputes in the South China Sea, but they avoided mentioning China by name.
Tensions in the region have increased as Beijing has carried out extensive reclamation work to expand islands in disputed areas of the sea.
The US has twice sent warships to patrol near disputed islands held by China.
The latest mission, dubbed by the Pentagon an operation to exercise the right to freedom of navigation in open seas, took place last month in waters within 12 nautical miles of Triton Island, also part of the Paracels and close to Woody Island.
READ MORE: Obama and Asean leaders say South China Sea disputes must be resolved under UN rules
Jin Canrong, a professor of international relations at Renmin University in Beijing, said China installing the missile system on Woody Island was a direct response to the Triton patrol.
“China’s logic is that we have to build up military facilities on those islands for self defence purposes, but to what extent depends on how much of a threat we feel we’re under,” Jin said.
The first US patrol took place near islands further afield in the Spratlys chain of the South China Sea, but Beijing views the patrol in the Paracels last month as a stronger provocation as they are closer to its shores and under tighter Chinese control.
More military facilities could be deployed, analysts said, depending on Washington’s next move.
Wu Shicun, president of the National Institute for South China Sea Studies, said the US patrols had prompted China to reassess the necessity for military deployments in the area.
“The assessment is that security is not ensured and that the existing facilities in the island chains are not effective to protect safety there so China has to enhance its defence capabilities,” he said.
Jin said any furthur military deployment would be focused in the Paracels.
“The Spratlys involve more claimants and [moves there] could backfire more severely,” Jin said.
But other regional analysts said there had been long been signs of the missile deployment.
“China seems to be putting missiles on a disputed South China Sea island while going slow on negotiating a code of conduct with Asean that would ban precisely this kind of thing. This is a sign that China does not take such diplomacy seriously,” said Professor Rory Medcalf with Australia’s National Security College.
“If this was meant to be a signal to deter [freedom of navigation operations], I doubt it will succeed.”
Admiral Harry Harris, Commander of the US Pacific Command, said a missile deployment would represent militarisation of the disputed region.
“It would be a clear indication of militarisation,” Harris said in Tokyo, where his is meeting Japanese defence officials.
Taiwan’s president-elect Tsai Ing-wen said tensions were heightened in the South China Sea and all parties should work towards peaceful solutions.



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South China Sea

Beijing calls reaction to missile deployment ‘hype’ in defending use of armaments in South China Sea disputed islands

Aerial view of construction at Mabini (Johnson) Reef by China, in the disputed Spratley Islands, in the south China Sea. China deployed two batteries of sophisticated surface-to-air missile launchers to a disputed island in the South China Sea yesterday. Photo: EPA

epa05112388 Taiwan opposition leader and president-elect Tsai Ing-wen reacts during an interview before their meeting for parliament reform in Taipei, Taiwan, 20 January 2016. Tsai, chairwoman of the Pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party, won the presidential election on 16 January and will be sworn in on 20 May. EPA/RITCHIE B. TONGO

No Caption Available.

The good, bad and downright ugly aspects of US naval operations in the South China Sea

The center portion of the Subi Reef runway is shown in this Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative January 8, 2016 satellite image released to Reuters on January 15, 2016. China will invite private investment to build infrastructure on islands it controls in the disputed South China Sea and will start regular flights to one of them this year, state media said on Friday, moves likely to anger other claimants. A U.S. research institute, meanwhile, said China appeared to have stepped up construction work on artificial islands it has built in the South China Sea and was close to finishing two more military-length airstrips on them. REUTERS/CSIS Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative/Digital Globe/Handout via ReutersATTENTION EDITORS - THIS PICTURE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. REUTERS IS UNABLE TO INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THE AUTHENTICITY, CONTENT, LOCATION OR DATE OF THIS IMAGE. EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NOT FOR SALE FOR MARKETING OR ADVERTISING 

This US Navy photo obtained February 1, 2016 shows the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Curtis Wilbur (DDG 54)as it conducts a live fire gunnery exercise with its 5-inch .54-caliber gun on January 15, 2016 in the South China Sea. Curtis Wilbur is on patrol in the 7th Fleet area of operations in support of security and stability in the Indo-Asia-Pacific. China on February 1, 2016 condemned as "dangerous and irresponsible" the weekend transit of a US warship within 12 nautical miles of a disputed island in the South China Sea.Tensions have mounted in the Sea over Beijing's construction of artificial islands. / AFP / US NAVY / Lt.j.g JONATHAN PETERSON / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO / US NAVY/JONATHAN PETERSON" - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS

(FILES) The guided missile destroyer USS Curtis Wilbur patrols the waters of the Arabian Gulf 09 July, 1999, as part of Carrier Task Force Five Zero deployed in support of Operation Southern Watch. The Curtis Wilbur is equipped with the AEGIS Weapons System which is sought by Taiwan from the US as part of a weapons package. US President George W. Bush is expected to announce as early as 24 April, 2001, a decision detailing which weapons will be sold to Taiwan. AFP PHOTO/US NAVY/John SULLIVAN/FILES

Sailors on the USS Curtis Wilbur (DDG 54) hold a Vietnamese flag after arriving for a port of call in the central Vietnamese city of Danang July 28, 2004. The long week stay in Danang for the USS Curtis Wilbur is the second visit of a U.S. warship to Vietnam since 1973, after the USS Vandergift docked in Ho Chi Minh city in November, 2003. REUTERS/Kham

This handout picture taken and released by the Taiwan Presidential Office on January 28, 2016 shows Taiwan President Ma Ing-jeou (2nd R) after disembarking from a military C-130 transport aircraft upon arrival on Taiping island, located in the disputed Spratly islands in the South China Sea. Taiwan's President Ma Ying-jeou defended his visit to a disputed island in the South China Sea January 28 despite criticism from the United States and protests from the other claimants as tensions swirl in the region. AFP PHOTO / Taiwan Presidential Office / Chen Chien Hsing --- EDITORS NOTE --- RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT - "AFP PHOTO / Taiwan Presidential Office / Chen Chien Hsing" - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS

US and India risk angering Beijing as they consider joint naval patrols in the South China Sea 

MiG-29 aircraft are seen parked during a media preview on the flight deck of INS Vikramaditya, Indian Navy's aircraft carrier, anchored in the Arabian Sea off the coast of Mumbai, India, in this December 3, 2015 file photo. The United States and India have held talks about conducting joint naval patrols that a U.S. defence official said could include the disputed South China Sea, a move that would likely anger Beijing, which claims most of the waterway. To match Exclusive SOUTHCHINASEA-INDIA/USA REUTERS/Shailesh Andrade/Files

The northwest side of Mischief Reef showing a 1,900 foot seawall and newly-constructed infrastructure including housing, an artificial turf parade grounds, cement plants, and docking facilities are shown in this Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative January 8, 2016 satellite image released to Reuters on January 15, 2016. China will invite private investment to build infrastructure on islands it controls in the disputed South China Sea and will start regular flights to one of them this year, state media said on Friday, moves likely to anger other claimants. A U.S. research institute, meanwhile, said China appeared to have stepped up construction work on artificial islands it has built in the South China Sea and was close to finishing two more military-length airstrips on them. REUTERS/CSIS Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative/Digital Globe/Handout via ReutersATTENTION EDITORS - THIS PICTURE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. REUTERS IS 

The U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyer USS Curtis Wilbur patrols in the Philippine Sea in this August 15, 2013 file photo. The destroyer sailed within 12 nautical miles of an island claimed by China and two other states in the South China Sea on January 30, 2016 to counter efforts to limit freedom of navigation, the Pentagon said. REUTERS/U.S. Navy/Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Declan Barnes/Handout via Reuters/Files ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS PICTURE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. THIS PICTURE IS DISTRIBUTED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED BY REUTERS, AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS. FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NOT FOR SALE FOR MARKETING OR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS.

MiG-29 aircraft are parked on the flight deck of INS Vikramaditya, Indian Navy's aircraft carrier. The United States and India have held talks about conducting joint naval patrols that a US defence official said could include the disputed South China Sea. File photo: Reuters

Beijing and Washington must pursue dialogue to maintain calm waters in the South China Sea

The US Navy’s USS Curtis Wilbur guided missile destroyer fired its .54 calibre gun in an exercise in the South China Sea in mid-January, according to the Navy. Photo: AFP / US Navy / Jonathan Peterson

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Update | Beijing calls reaction to missile deployment ‘hype’ in defending use of armaments in South China Sea disputed islands

READ MORE: China ‘sends warning’ with release of photographs of disputed South China Sea island

Watch: China defends actions on disputed island