US 'welcome' to use China's man-made islands for civilian purposes

The US and other countries will be welcome to use facilities on islands China is building in the South China Sea for civilian activities "when the conditions are right", according to a statement released by Beijing late on Thursday.

As well the tentative offer of access for purposes such as weather forecasting and search and rescue operations, Beijing assured Washington that its island-building would not affect navigation or overflight rights, in an effort to allay fears that Beijing is pursuing military expansion in regional waters.

Alarm has been growing among China's neighbours, particularly Vietnam and the Philippines, at the rapid transformation of coral reefs in the South China Sea into land masses - or what US Pacific Fleet commander Admiral Harry Harris called "a great wall of sand" in a speech a month ago.

The construction projects focus on the strategic Paracel and Spratly island chains, most of which were until recently little more than coral atolls but now sport facilities such as living quarters and harbours. One island, Fiery Cross Reef in the Spratlys, even has a newly built airstrip.

The activity extends China's naval reach into the western Pacific but also buttresses the country's maritime sovereignty claims based on the "nine-dash line", a marking on Chinese maps that encompasses about 90 per cent of the South China Sea.

China counters that many of its neighbours, including the Philippines, Vietnam and Taiwan, have also built up islands and reefs in territory claimed by Beijing using dredgers, derelict ships and other structures.

Thursday's statement said it followed a telephone call between US chief of naval operations Jonathan Greenert and China's navy chief Wu Shengli, in which the former said he hoped China would explain to its neighbours the goals of its building works and that he hoped other countries could use the facilities for joint humanitarian operations.

Mr Wu responded that China's building projects would "improve the ability in these seas of public services like weather forecasting and maritime search and rescue, fulfilling international obligations to maintain the security of international seas", according to the statement.

"[We] welcome international organisations, the United States and relevant countries to use these facilities in the future when conditions are right, to have co-operation on humanitarian search and rescue and disaster relief," Mr Wu added.

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