WOODY ISLAND, SOUTH CHINA SEA — Chinese oil company Sinopec is building a service station in the disputed Paracels Islands in the South China Sea, Reuters reported.
The station, along with a storage tank, is being built on Woody Island and will be completed in one year. The facilities will provide fuel to all Chinese-controlled islands and reefs in the South China Sea over the next few years, Sinopec said in a post on its microblog.
Woody island has a population of about 1,000 people. China has also been expanding infrastructure on it by building a new airport facility and extending the runway.
China claims nearly all of the South China Sea, through which more than $5 trillion worth of maritime trade passes every year. That claim is not recognized by the United States and its allies, which conduct freedom of navigation exercises in waters claimed by China.
Other countries have claims in the South China Sea such as Brunei, Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines and Taiwan.
On November 25, the BBC recorded a Royal Australian Air Force P-3 Orion surveillance plane conducting one such patrol. The plane tried to inform the Chinese navy, which did not respond.
According to the Sydney Morning Herald, by stepping up military surveillance flights over the region, Australia is showing China it does not intend to stop operations in the disputed areas.
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