Govt can't confirm foreign reporters' visit to Yongxing Island
China is dedicated to providing public services in the South China Sea to ensure safety and freedom of navigation, China's foreign ministry said as the country completed a new lighthouse on Zhubi Reef, which was at the center of a China-U.S. diplomatic spat last year after a U.S. warship sailed within waters surrounding the reef to challenge China's territorial claims.
China's Ministry of Transport on Tuesday held a completion ceremony for the Zhubi Reef lighthouse to mark the start of its operations.
The lighthouse is the third of its kind in the South China Sea following lighthouses on Huayang and Chigua islands, which were completed last year.
Asked about the lighthouse, foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang said at a daily briefing in Beijing Wednesday that it would be helpful for commercial users of the waters.
Rejecting a statement from some Western experts that the lighthouses were to consolidate 'de facto recognition' of China's sovereignty, Liu Feng, a Hainan-based expert on the South China Sea, told the Global Times Wednesday that the construction and territorial claims are not related.
"China's territorial claims to the islands remain, with or without a lighthouse," Liu said. "The main purpose of the construction is to provide public services and ensure navigational safety. Other countries should stop looking at China through tunnel vision."
Construction of the Zhubi lighthouse started in October 2015. The 55-meter-high lighthouse, with a lantern of 4.5 meters in diameter on the top and rotating lights inside, is monitored through a Beidou remote control terminal, reported the Xinhua News Agency.
The lighthouse emits white light at night, with a light range of 22 nautical miles. The automatic identification system and very high frequency stations inside the lighthouse can provide efficient navigation services such as positioning reference, route guidance and navigation safety information to ships, which can improve navigation management and emergency response.
In October last year, the U.S. guided missile destroyer USS Lassen sailed within 12 nautical miles of Zhubi Reef, drawing an angry rebuke from China.
China claims Zhubi Reef is an island where waters within 12 nautical miles constitute its territorial sea, according to Liu. Therefore, the U.S. warship sailing within the waters of Zhubi was seen as a "deliberate provocation."
Yongxing opens up
Also on Wednesday, Taipei-based newspaper the China Times said the Chinese mainland's foreign ministry is preparing to organize a group of foreign reporters based in Beijing to visit Yongxing Island in the South China Sea.
The news could not be immediately confirmed by the Global Times.
However, a representative of the Sansha government in Hainan Province, China's southernmost city founded in 2012 and mainly based on Yongxing, told the Global Times on Wednesday that they have not heard of such an activity.
The representative said foreign correspondents can apply to the publicity department of the Hainan government if they are interested in visiting the island.
Previous media reports said Sansha's Yongxing Airport is expected to open to passenger planes within the year and the city will open to more tourists. China conducted a test flight to Yongshu Reef in January.
The South China Sea is a critical maritime corridor linking the Pacific and Indian oceans, as well as a major fishing ground.
However, high traffic density, complex navigation conditions and a severe shortage in aid and response forces have combined to threaten navigation safety and hinder economic and social development in the region.
To improve the maritime emergency response in the area, China's Ministry of Transport started construction of large multi-functional lighthouses last year.
