BEIJING (THE PHILIPPINES DAILY INQUIRER/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) – China is building a school on a remote island in the South China Sea to serve the children of military personnel and others, expanding the rugged outpost it created two years ago to strengthen claims to disputed waters and islands.
China established the settlement of Sansha-which Beijing designates a “city” and has a permanent population of 1,443-on tiny Yongxing island to administer hundreds of thousands of square kilometers of water where China wants to strengthen its control over the potentially oil-rich territory.
Vietnam, the Philippines and the United States criticised Beijing for establishing Sansha, saying it risked escalating regional tensions.
The island is about 350 km south of China’s southernmost province, in the Paracel chain, which is also claimed by Vietnam.
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