VietNamnet Bridge – Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh has said that Vietnam is checking information that China is building a fake island and military base on Gac Ma Reef (Johnson South Reef) in the center of the East Sea.

Photo: Reuters

Bloomberg has reported that China is building Dubai-style fake islands in the East Sea in an effort to “reshape” the East Sea.

The newswire has quoted Filipino fishermen and local officials as saying that Chinese ships are carrying construction materials to the waters near the disputed Spratly Islands.

“China’s efforts are reminiscent of Dubai’s Palm resort-style land reclamation,” Bloomberg quoted the locals as saying.

Major General Nguyen Kim Khoa, chairman of the Committee of Defence and Security, said if China is really building islands on the East Sea, it is violating Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC) which says that the status quo must be maintained for the parties to conduct negotiations to sign the Code of Conduct (COC) in the East Sea.

“Not only Vietnam, but other ASEAN countries, will know what they need to do if China really is doing this,” Khoa said.

In May 2014, Want China Times quoted Duowei News run by overseas Chinese as reporting that the Chinese military may soon set up a military base on Gac Ma of the Vietnamese Truong Sa archipelago.

The online newspaper said China plans to build an artificial island worth $5 billion, a harbor and an airport to strengthen its military power in the East Sea.

The news was released after Vietnam made public a video clip showing Chinese ships ramming a Vietnamese fishing boat, and after US Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel criticized China at a Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore.

Duong Trung Quoc, a well-known Vietnamese historian, and a National Assembly’s Deputy, said in Dat Viet newspaper that Vietnam needs to raise its voice against illegal acts, and if not, actions would “be done and not reversible”, and as a result, it would be very dangerous.

In 1988, China illegally occupied Vietnamese Gac Ma by using force. At that time, many questions were raised: what would China do after that, a naval base or a military airport which can be developed into a center to control air transport in the East Sea?

Colonel Trinh Dinh Thach, deputy chief commander in chief of the Quang Ngai provincial Military Command, said that Vietnam would resolutely protest against the Chinese act of building islands and military bases on Gac Ma, if it discover that China is really doing this.

Compiled by C. V