appConfigEntityId

bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

isVideo

articlePageQuery

article

articleSchemaContent

content

hooksArticlePageAdvertisementConfigArticle

hooksArticlePageFloatingButtonConfigArticle

appConfig

filter

json

liveArticle

Maria Siow

Vietnam faces heightened security in the South China Sea amid reports of construction works in the Paracels archipelago – which Beijing calls Xisha Islands – with analysts saying that the latest developments could alter the strategic balance in the contested waters.
Hanoi voiced its strong objection after reports citing satellite imagery said new Chinese infrastructure had appeared on Yagong Island, called Ba Ba Island by Vietnam.
“Vietnam ⁠resolutely opposes this, has made serious representations and affirmed its position on the matter, and demands an immediate end to such activities and that they not be repeated,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Pham Thu Hang said on Friday.
“Vietnam reiterates that all ⁠foreign activities in the Paracel Islands, including at Ba Ba Island and at Hai Sam Reef, conducted without Vietnam’s permission are ⁠completely illegal and null and void,” she added, using Vietnam’s name for Antelope Reef.

The Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative (AMTI) reported on August 14 that China had completed land reclamation at Antelope Reef. First signs of major infrastructure have emerged at the new artificial island, including a “likely airstrip”.
Beijing has not commented on the current reports, but has consistently framed its activities in the region as one of sovereign rights.
Chong De Xian, an associate research fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, said that given existing Chinese infrastructure across the South China Sea, additional installations could strengthen Beijing’s surveillance and operational abilities.
“For Vietnam, this potentially means a tighter operating environment, where any presence or activity around the Paracels could be detected earlier, tracked more closely, and challenged more quickly,” Chong said.
China controls seven fortified outposts in the Spratly Islands, covering roughly 1,300 hectares (3,200 acres) of reclaimed land equipped with major military airbases, deepwater ports and missile systems, according to AMTI.
Beijing has occupied the Paracel Islands since 1974, when it seized them from the former South Vietnam navy.

Vietnam, which claims the entire archipelago as its ‌own, ⁠has moved in recent years to expand its own network of bases in the Spratlys, which lie further south.
Noraini Zulkifli, senior lecturer at the National Defence University of Malaysia’s Department of International Relations, Security and Law, said the situation “carries genuine potential for escalation” as Vietnam could interpret the new installations as a “direct threat to its sovereignty and national security”.
This could alter the strategic balance in the northern South China Sea, she added.
“If left unmanaged, the militarisation of contested islands risks increasing the frequency of maritime incidents, heightening the chance of miscalculation,” Noraini said, adding that Hanoi’s “open opposition” signalled a willingness to internationalise the dispute.
It also suggests that Vietnam is keen to reinforce its legal claims under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (Unclos) and invite external players such as Asean, the United States and Japan to play a stabilising role, according to Noraini.
Under Unclos, Vietnam claims include a 12-nautical-mile territorial sea, a 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone, and a continental shelf totalling roughly 1 million sq km (390,000 square miles).
An integrated intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance network “could put persistent pressure on Vietnamese fishing vessels”, said Van T. Pham, founder and director of The South China Sea Chronicle Initiative, a Vietnam-based independent research organisation that analyses maritime activities in the disputed waters.
Indirect response
Ray Powell, director of Stanford University’s SeaLight Foundation, said China’s Paracel buildout might be, in part, an indirect response to Vietnam’s ambitious construction programme in the Spratly Islands.
“While Beijing has not directly interfered with those, it is strengthening its position in the Paracels,” he said. “It may see this asymmetric response as a way to impose costs on Hanoi without creating a direct confrontation and perhaps driving it closer to Manila’s more adversarial position.”
Unlike the Philippines, which takes a confrontational approach – including maritime pushbacks and frequent drills with allies – Vietnam has traditionally held a quieter stance towards Beijing on the South China Sea.
However, Hanoi has over the years expanded artificial land in the disputed Spratly Islands to about 1,100 hectares, building military and maritime infrastructure across 27 sites on at least 18 reefs, according to AMTI.


Vietnam’s latest objection should be seen as part of a pattern, Chong said. While Hanoi usually tries to avoid unnecessary escalation, it periodically objects on record when Chinese activities cross areas it claims.
In March, Vietnam formally protested China’s land reclamation and dredging activities at Antelope Reef.
“In this case, the reported construction was already public, and keeping silent would have risked looking like acquiescence, especially on a sovereignty issue as sensitive as the Paracels,” he said.
“Vietnam’s open opposition serves to preserve Hanoi’s sovereignty position, signals that it does not accept Chinese activity there, and reassures domestic audiences that the issue is not being ignored.”
Before Hanoi issued its formal response, there was evidence of growing public frustration in Vietnam, with the issue generating over 2 million social media posts, Van said.
“The response of Vietnamese authorities appears to be lagging behind public awareness, particularly among younger people,” he said.
“Vietnam may face growing pressure in balancing the management of its bilateral relationship with China and the need to manage domestic politics in a way that maintains its legitimacy at home.”


Japan asks for US$43 million to weed out cherry tree-devouring longhorn beetle

Customs seizes record HK$125 million worth of marijuana shipped by sea, arresting 3

Why the Global South keeps its doors wide open to Russia

Saudi oil pipeline closure puts Asia’s economic resilience to the test

Vietnam

South China Sea island build-up heightens Vietnam’s security concerns

A satellite image taken by Vantor on August 17 shows China’s construction work at Yagong Island. Photo: Vantor / AFP

A combination of handout satellite images released by Vantor on August 25 shows China’s construction work at Antelope Reef on December 13, 2025 (top) and August 11. Photo: Vantor / AFP

Fishermen collect fish caught in a net on Ly Son, Vietnam’s closest island to the disputed Paracel archipelago in the South China Sea. Photo: AFP

Vietnam’s warship project signals modernisation, bamboo diplomacy balance

Vietnamese missile frigate Tran Hung Dao heads to a naval port in the city of Zhanjiang in south China’s Guangdong province in 2024. Photo: Xinhua

Vietnam’s Tran Hung Dao is a Gepard-class frigate. Photo: Handout

A Chinese coastguard ship seen near a vessel of the Vietnamese marine guard in the South China Sea in 2014. Photo: Reuters

Vietnamese sailors patrol on Phan Vinh Island in the Spratly archipelago in 2011. Photo: AFP

UK-Philippines troop deal to boost Nato’s South China Sea reach

Troops from the Philippines, Britain, the US, Japan and South Korea take part in a military exercise in the Philippines in 2023. Photo: Philippine Marine Corps / Handout

UK Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband speaks during the Asean post-ministerial conference with the UK in Pasay City, Philippines, in July. Photo: EPA

A Japanese helicopter destroyer takes part in the US-Philippines Exercise Balikatan 2026 in the South China Sea in April. Photo: Handout

French ambassador to the Philippines Marie Fontanel (left) talks to Brigadier General Guillaume Thomas, French Air Defence and Operations Command, at Clark airbase, Pampanga, north of Manila, in 2024. Photo: AFP

Philippines eyes drones and ‘system of systems’ to boost asymmetric defence

A drone hovers above a Philippine Coast Guard patrol vessel in Bataan province in April 2025. Photo: EPA-EFE

Defence Secretary Gilberto Teodoro says the Philippines needs to secure communications, artificial intelligence and operational networks to integrate unmanned systems into military operations. Photo: Reuters

US and Philippine marines prepare to terminate enemy drones during a counter-landing live fire drills as part of the Balikatan military exercises in Cagayan, northern Philippines, in May. Photo: Jeoffrey Maitem

Small state, big agenda: Singapore prepares to steer Asean through crisis

Singapore’s Lawrence Wong attends an Asean meeting in 2023. Photo: EPA-EFE

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ flag (right) seen alongside the flags of member states at a forum in Singapore in 2008. Photo: AFP

Singapore’s Lawrence Wong attends an Asean meeting in 2023, before becoming prime minister. Photo: EPA-EFE

The Asean logo is seen at the Asean Secretariat building in Jakarta, Indonesia, last year. Photo: AFP

A container ship enters port in Qingdao, east China’s Shandong province. Photo: Xinhua

Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul (not pictured) reaches out to shake hands with Myanmar President Min Aung Hlaing (left) after a signing ceremony in Bangkok on August 6. Photo: EPA

Singapore’s Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan gives the opening remarks at the 25th Asean Regional Forum Retreat in Singapore in 2018. Photo: AP

This Week in Asia

Politics

News

Asia

Southeast Asia

Hanoi voices strong objections after reports emerge about Chinese construction works in the Paracels archipelago


Hanoi voices strong objections after reports emerge about Chinese construction works in the Paracels archipelago.


South China Sea island build-up heightens Vietnam’s security concerns

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Hanoi voices strong objections after reports emerge about Chinese construction works in the Paracels archipelago

Hanoi voices strong objections after reports emerge about Chinese construction works in the Paracels archipelago