MANILA, Philippines – China is building a combat-capable air facility on Zamora (Subi) Reef in South China Sea in a development seen to jeopardize the Philippines’s possession of the nearby Pag-asa Island.
Satellite photos published Thursday by foreign affairs website The Diplomat showed that China is subgrading for a runway at a width of about 60 meters.
The website said the extent of subgrading at Zamora Reef is about 2,200 meters “with obvious preparations for a longer span underway.”
“As pointed out by analysts, these military facilities and others newly constructed by China in the Spratlys would increase Beijing’s capacity to enforce an air defense identification zone in the South China Sea, if it were to declare one,” the report said.