China appears set on militarizing another reef in the South China Sea

CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand — Satellite imagery appears to show China is set to reclaim land on another reef in the South China Sea for yet another military base.

Simultaneously, China demonstrated the use of hundreds of fishing boats to support future combat operations against Taiwan.

The coral reef in question is Antelope Reef, located at 16°27’45”N, 111°35’20”E in the Paracel Islands. It is 250 miles east of Hue in Vietnam, and about 175 miles southeast of Sanya Naval Base on China’s Hainan Island.

According to the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative – AMTI for short – China has military outposts, including sophisticated military bases such as Woody Island, on 20 islands in the Paracels. Beijing seized the Paracel chain from Vietnam in 1974.

Dredging of the eastern and southern edges of the lagoon started after mid-October 2025, and satellite images taken in January 2026 showed substantial changes such as new infrastructure and an access way for roll-on/roll-off berths, Newsweek reported this month. Such works allow the arrival of heavy equipment for dredging and land reclamation.

AMTI describes Antelope Island as “little more than a sandbar,” and previously it had just a couple of buildings on it. If China turns it into a military base, it could act as a helipad, radar station and anchorage for Chinese warships and coast guard vessels.

China also has seven military outposts in the Spratly Island chain due south of the Paracels, according to analysts. China has created 3,200 acres of new land there. Additionally, China controls Scarborough Shoal, which it seized from the Philippines in 2012.

Meanwhile, Vietnam is also strengthening its infrastructure in the Spratly Islands.

Besides nursing a growing network of lily-pad installations, China rehearsed a new tactic late last year by mobilizing hundreds of fishing boats to create two massive L-shaped “floating barriers” 290 miles long.

The geospatial firm ingeniSPACE first noticed the phenomenon, as 2,000 Chinese vessels created this formation from Dec. 25-27 in waters northeast of Taiwan.

This coordinated activity occurred just three days before China announced a major exercise circumscribing Taiwan. Dubbed Justice Mission-2025, the PLA exercise was designed to browbeat Taiwan and rehearse the implementation of a naval blockade.

Something similar took place from Jan. 9-12, when some 1,400 Chinese fishing boats formed a 200-mile-long “barrier” for more than 30 hours, according to automatic identification system data.

Such floating “walls” of fishing boats demonstrate a new level of coordination that offers Beijing more ways to impose control in contested seas. These maneuvers are complex and massive, as these vessels halted normal activities and assembled into a dense formation.

These events illustrate how the Chinese military controls fishing fleets via the People’s Armed Forces Maritime Militia (PAFMM).

A U.S. Congressional Research Service report published in May 2025 acknowledged that the PAFMM’s role is to defend Chinese maritime claims.

It said, “In the view of some observers, the PAFMM – even more than China’s navy or coast guard – is the leading component of China’s maritime forces for asserting its maritime claims, particularly in the South China Sea.”

The report’s authors remarked that in peacetime the PAFMM advances Beijing’s maritime territorial claims, and that in war it would “support combat operations by conducting reconnaissance or creating obstacles and providing logistical support to other PLA forces.”

During a Taiwan contingency, for example, such floating barriers could overwhelm shipping lanes, block ports, disrupt naval and legitimate commercial traffic, act as decoys and overwhelm an adversary with too many targets.

Gordon Arthur is an Asia correspondent for Defense News. After a 20-year stint working in Hong Kong, he now resides in New Zealand. He has attended military exercises and defense exhibitions in about 20 countries around the Asia-Pacific region.

新西兰基督城——卫星图像显示，中国似乎准备在南海另一处礁石上填海造陆，以建造又一个军事基地。

与此同时，中国展示了利用数百艘渔船支援未来对台作战行动的措施。

此处所指的珊瑚礁是羚羊礁，位于西沙群岛，坐标为北纬16°27'45”，东经111°35'20”。它位于越南顺化以东250英里处，中国海南岛三亚海军基地东南约175英里处。

根据亚洲海事透明倡议组织（简称AMTI）的说法，中国在西沙群岛的20个岛屿上设有军事前哨，包括像永兴岛这样先进的军事基地。北京于1974年从越南手中夺取了西沙群岛。

据《新闻周刊》本月报道，泻湖东部和南部边缘的疏浚工程于2025年10月中旬后启动，2026年1月拍摄的卫星图像显示，该区域已发生显著变化，例如新建了基础设施和滚装船泊位通道。这些工程将为疏浚和填海造地所需的重型设备提供进场通道。

AMTI将羚羊岛描述为“不过是一片沙洲”，此前岛上只有几栋建筑。如果中国将其改造成军事基地，它可以作为直升机停机坪、雷达站以及中国军舰和海警船的停泊地。

分析人士指出，中国在西沙群岛以南的南沙群岛也设有七个军事哨所，并在那里开垦了3200英亩土地。此外，中国还控制着黄岩岛，该岛于2012年从菲律宾手中夺取。

与此同时，越南也在加强其在南沙群岛的基础设施建设。

除了不断扩大的睡莲装置网络外，中国在去年年底还演练了一种新策略，即调动数百艘渔船，建造了两条长达 290 英里的巨大 L 形“漂浮屏障”。

地理空间公司ingeniSPACE最先注意到这一现象，12月25日至27日期间，2000艘中国船只在台湾东北海域形成了这种队形。

就在三天前，中国宣布了一项旨在包围台湾的大规模演习。这项名为“正义使命-2025”的解放军演习旨在威慑台湾，并演练实施海上封锁。

1月9日至12日也发生过类似的事情，根据自动识别系统的数据，当时约1400艘中国渔船组成了一条长达200英里的“屏障”，持续了30多个小时。

这种由渔船组成的“海上墙”展现了一种新的协调水平，为北京在争议海域施加控制提供了更多手段。这些行动规模庞大且复杂，因为这些船只停止了正常的作业活动，并集结成密集的队形。

这些事件表明中国军队如何通过人民武装力量海上民兵（PAFMM）控制渔船队。

美国国会研究服务处于 2025 年 5 月发布的一份报告承认，太平洋海事安全局 (PAFMM) 的作用是捍卫中国的海洋主张。

报告称，“一些观察人士认为，中国海军海上力量（PAFMM）——甚至比中国海军或海警更甚——是中国海上力量维护其海洋权益，尤其是在南海的主张方面的主要力量。”

报告作者指出，在和平时期，巴基斯坦海军陆战队推进北京的海上领土主张；在战争时期，它将“通过进行侦察或制造障碍来支持作战行动，并为解放军其他部队提供后勤支持”。

例如，在台湾发生紧急情况时，这种漂浮屏障可以阻塞航道、封锁港口、扰乱海军和合法的商业交通、充当诱饵，并以过多的目标压制对手。

戈登·阿瑟是《防务新闻》的亚洲特派记者。在香港工作20年后，他现居新西兰。他曾到访亚太地区约20个国家，参加过军事演习和防务展览。