Satellite images confirmed that Chinese workers have completed the first stage of a six-kilometer artificial island on Antelope Reef in the Paracel Islands. After several months of dredging, Chinese ships and machinery abandoned the area, having left a new piece of land constructed to serve as a military outpost for the Chinese.
Deep-water dock – a 680-meter-long dock facing the deep waters, where the Chinese Coast Guard ships are now stationed. Naval analysts emphasised that a fully operational base at Antelope Reef allows China to deploy H-6 strategic bombers and establish a protected bastion for nuclear-armed ballistic missile submarines. China has maintained physical control over the Paracel Islands since seizing them from South Vietnam in 1974. In March 2026, Vietnam’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a diplomatic protest condemning the unauthorised dredging at Antelope Reef.
The facilities identified on the new island are as follows: Aviation infrastructure – a long three-kilometer-long stretch of coastline designed to host a full-scale military runway and construction sites for air facilities, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies. The analysis of the high-resolution satellite images proves that the new island is larger than the existing Woody Island used as a Chinese military hub in the area. Helipads and other facilities – construction sites for helipads, radar towers, and administrative facilities on the southeast part of the island. Located in the northern sector of the South China Sea, Antelope Reef offers Beijing a superior defensive perimeter compared to its southern outposts in the Spratly Islands. This forward positioning creates significant subsurface operational challenges for U.S. and Vietnamese naval forces entering the maritime theater during a potential Taiwan Strait escalation. However, Vietnam continues to claim sovereignty over the entire archipelago. defense experts warn the facility is built to house missile batteries, electronic warfare units, and long-range surveillance systems While Chinese state media characterizes the site as a civilian center for marine science and weather forecasting. The completion of this landmass marks China’s first major island-building campaign in nearly a decade, signaling an accelerating military footprint across key international shipping lanes.
