A new island, a new base: The Chinese move that worries the entire region

China has completed the construction of an artificial island in the South China Sea, on Antelope Reef in the Paracel Islands. Satellite images reveal a six-kilometer-long strip of land, a pier, a port, and a future runway over three kilometers long. Experts estimate the runway will be used for fighter jets and bombers. The work, which began after October 2025, has turned the reef into one of China's largest outposts in the area, with an area similar to that of Mischief Reef. Its location, about 300 km south of China's Hainan Island and about 400 km from the coast of Vietnam, gives it strategic importance in a region disputed between China, Vietnam, and Taiwan.

China has completed the construction of an artificial island on Antelope Reef in the Paracel Islands, in the South China Sea. Recent satellite images reveal a six-kilometer-long strip of land, including a pier, a port, and extensive infrastructure. Preliminary work for a helipad has already begun, and experts estimate that the future runway, over three kilometers long, could be used for fighter jets, transport aircraft, and even strategic bombers. The transformation of the reef has been remarkably rapid. Until October 2025, Antelope was considered one of China's smallest outposts in the Paracel Islands, but since then Beijing has launched a large-scale dredging and filling operation. The Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative estimated in March that China had reclaimed about six square kilometers of land there, an area almost identical to that of Mischief Reef, which was previously China's largest artificial outpost in the South China Sea. The reef's importance also stems from its strategic location: about 300 kilometers south of China's Hainan Island and about 400 kilometers from the coast of Vietnam. The area is subject to a territorial dispute between China, Vietnam, and Taiwan. China has effectively controlled the Paracel Islands since the 1970s and operates military bases, radar systems, and missile installations there. Beijing typically presents its facilities in the area as also intended for civilian research, but Western researchers note that civilian infrastructure on other islands was later converted into military installations. The construction of the island on Antelope marks China's return to large-scale artificial island-building projects after a hiatus of nearly a decade.