China releases video of building artificial islands in Truong Sa

Chinese television broadcast for the first time images of illegal construction on Cross Reef, part of Vietnam's Truong Sa archipelago.

Television stationCCTVOn May 3, a video of construction on Cross Reef was broadcast, in a report about the activities of the art troupe on this illegal artificial island.Buildings, roads, and lighthouses are beginning to take shape, according to the images in the report.

"This may be the first time CCTV has released video of the reef," Global Times quoted Li Jie, a Beijing-based military expert, as saying on May 4. He blatantly claimed that the construction on the reef was within "China's sovereignty" and aimed at "regional peace and stability."

According to Sina, on the evening of May 2, China held a cultural festival on the Cross Reef to serve soldiers and workers stationed illegally. The website posted a photo of the 20,000-ton Kunlunshan 998 landing ship anchored at the pier on the Cross Reef.

The runway on Cross Reef is 3,000 meters long and is one of three runways that Beijing has illegally built on artificial islands illegally reclaimed from Vietnam's Truong Sa archipelago. Since 2014, China has illegally reclaimed and built at least 7 reefs in Vietnam's Truong Sa archipelago.

In April, a Chinese military aircraft landed on Fiery Cross Reef to take three construction workers to the hospital. The Pentagon questioned why China deployed a military aircraft instead of a civilian one. In response to this move, a representative of the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs met with a representative of the Chinese Embassy in Hanoi to hand over a diplomatic note of protest. Vietnam demanded that China immediately cease and not repeat activities that violate Vietnam's sovereignty./.

According to VNE