Chinese state-owned energy giant Sinopec is illegally building a gas station on Woody Island, part of Vietnam's Paracel Islands.

Phu Lam Island seen from above. Photo: People's Daily.

Construction of the gas station and accompanying storage facility on Woody Island in the Paracel Islands will take a year to complete, Reuters reported, citing a Sinopec announcement posted on its social media account today.

There are currently about 1,000 people living on Woody Island and Chinese travel companies have started offering five-day cruise tours to the Paracels since 2013.

The gas station and storage facility are aimed at meeting fuel needs for the islands and reefs controlled by China in the coming years, the notice added.

China used force to occupy Vietnam's Hoang Sa archipelago in 1974. This country established the so-called "Sansha city" on Phu Lam island, part of the Hoang Sa archipelago, in July 2012 to take over the archipelagos in the East Sea, including Vietnam's Truong Sa and Hoang Sa archipelagos.

China also announced today that it has officially put into use a school illegally built on Woody Island. The school has 4 floors, with an area of ​​about 4,650 square meters. This project has been under construction since June 2014.

QQ introduced this school, which includes kindergarten and primary school classes, to strengthen management and education for children of soldiers, personnel and fishermen illegally stationed in the Paracel Islands.

China claims sovereignty over most of the East Sea, overlapping with the waters of neighboring countries such as Vietnam and the Philippines. Beijing has also illegally reclaimed and built many artificial islands in Vietnam's Truong Sa archipelago, a move that has been strongly criticized by countries in the region, including the US.

Vietnam has full legal basis and historical evidence to affirm its indisputable sovereignty over the Hoang Sa and Truong Sa archipelagos. "All construction and expansion activities by foreign countries on the rocky islands and shoals in the Hoang Sa and Truong Sa archipelagos without the permission of the Vietnamese government are completely illegal and worthless," the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs affirmed.

A Sinopec gas station in Shanghai, China. Photo: Reuters.

According to VNE