BEIJING – Tiongkok menyulut ketegangan di wilayah sengketa. Itu terjadi setelah media menayangkan hasil pencitraan satelit DigitalGlobe yang diambil dari atas Kepulauan Spratly yang menjadi sengketa beberapa negara di sekitar Laut China Selatan. Foto satelit menunjukkan landasan pacu yang dibangun Tiongkok di sana.

Foto-foto satelit bertanggal 23 Maret itu terpampang di situs resmi Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) yang bermarkas di Kota Washington, Amerika Serikat (AS). Dalam pencitraan terlihat landasan pacu yang pembangunannya baru rampung sekitar sepertiganya saja. Total, panjang landasan pacu tersebut diperkirakan 3,1 kilometer.

’’Jika telah beroperasi, nanti landasan pacu itu mampu mengakomodasi hampir segala jenis pesawat yang ingin Tiongkok daratkan di sana,’’ terang CSIS tentang landasan pacu tersebut. Landasan pacu yang langsung memantik kontroversi di kawasan Asia itu dibangun di Fiery Cross, salah satu karang penghalang di Kepulauan Spratly yang dijadikan pulau buatan oleh Tiongkok.

Menyebut Fiery Cross sebagai Pulau Yongshu, Tiongkok mengabaikan keberatan negara-negara tetangga terkait dengan klaimnya atas wilayah tersebut. Pemerintahan Presiden Xi Jinping bahkan nekat mereklamasi karang tersebut dan menjadikannya pulau buatan. Sukses menyulap karang menjadi pulau, Beijing melanjutkan pembangunan di wilayah itu.

Negara-negara tetangga Tiongkok memprotes aktivitas pembangunan di pulau tersebut. Apalagi, Beijing mengerahkan banyak alat berat ke kawasan itu. AS dan sekutunya menuduh Tiongkok sengaja membangun fasilitas militer di sana. Tetapi, Beijing bergeming. Mereka tetap melanjutkan rencananya. Dalam gambar yang diunggah CSIS itu terlihat jelas perbedaan kondisi lokasi landasan tersebut pada 6 Februari dan 23 Maret lalu.

Itu berarti Tiongkok melakukan pembangunan yang sangat cepat di pulau buatan tersebut. ’’Meskipun saat ini belum terlihat bangunan fisiknya, Fiery Cross adalah pulau yang cukup besar untuk mengakomodasi hanggar bagi pesawat Tiongkok,’’ lanjut CSIS. Dengan landasan pacu tersebut, Tiongkok tidak akan sulit lagi melakukan pengisian ulang bahan bakar pesawat.

Selain Tiongkok, Kepulauan Spratly diklaim Filipina dan Vietnam. Tetapi, Beijing berpegang pada peta 1940 yang mencantumkan Tiongkok sebagai pemilik penuh kepulauan itu. Jika dilihat dari jarak, sebenarnya Filipina lebih dekat dengan Fiery Cross ketimbang Tiongkok. Sebab, pulau buatan yang menjadi lokasi landasan pacu itu berjarak 100 kilometer dari Filipina dan 1.000 kilometer dari Tiongkok.
http://www.jawapos.com/baca/artikel/...cu-di-Spratlys

China explains why it's building islands in the South China Sea
China on Thursday sketched out detailed plans for the islands it is creating in the disputed South China Sea, saying they would be used for military defense as well as to provide civilian services that would benefit other countries.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told a news briefing that the reclamation and building work in the Spratly archipelago of the South China Sea was needed partly because of the risk of typhoons in an area with a lot of shipping that is far from land.

"We are building shelters, aids for navigation, search and rescue as well as marine meteorological forecasting services, fishery services and other administrative services so as to provide the necessary services to China, neighboring countries and individual vessels sailing the South China Sea," Hua said.

Hua said the islands and reefs would also meet the demands for China's military defense, although she did not elaborate.

It's rare for China to give such detail about its plans for the artificial islands. The rapid reclamation taking place on seven reefs has alarmed other claimants and drawn U.S. criticism, including from Defense Secretary Ash Carter, who is visiting Japan and South Korea this week.

"The relevant construction is a matter that is entirely within the scope of China's sovereignty. It is fair, reasonable, lawful, it does not affect and is not targeted against any country. It is beyond reproach," Hua added.

China claims most of the potentially energy rich South China Sea, through which $5 trillion in ship-borne trade passes every year. The Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan also have overlapping claims.

All but Brunei have fortified bases in the Spratlys, which lie roughly 1,300 km (810 miles) from the Chinese mainland but much closer to the Southeast Asian claimants.

While China's new islands will not overturn U.S. military superiority in the region, workers are building ports and fuel storage depots as well as possibly two airstrips that experts have said would allow Beijing to project power deep into the maritime heart of Southeast Asia.
http://www.businessinsider.com/china...a-2015-4?IR=T&

Alleged South China Sea reef construction is ‘renovation’
2014-05-04 04:08:04 GMT2014-05-04 12:08:04(Beijing Time) Global Times
Photos showing alleged land reclamation and construction on the Chigua Reef in the South China Sea, which was brought under China's control after a brief armed conflict with Vietnam more than two decades ago, have been postPhotos showing alleged land reclamation and construction on the Chigua Reef in the South China Seaed online.
However, a source close to the construction told the Global Times it was merely a renovation on the infrastructure of the reef.
A dozen photos were posted on nhjd.net, an unofficial discussion board for studies of the South China Sea, by the forum's administrator Friday.
The photos show trucks and cranes at a construction site and several engineering vessels. One of the photos shows Chinese warships near the construction site. Another photo shows vessels flying Vietnamese flags nearby.
After being posted online, the photos soon went viral.
On March 14, 1988, China and Vietnam fought a small-scale conflict for the Chigua Reef, which led to China's control of the reef.
A source told the Global Times China is renovating the living facilities for troops stationed on the reef, and the renovation could by no means be comparable to construction made on occupied reefs and islets by Vietnam and the Philippines.
The source further noted that China's construction on reefs and islets under its control has always been "restrained."
The Chigua Reef is now administered by the city of Sansha, Hainan Province, which was established in 2012.
http://english.sina.com/china/2014/0...03/697230.html