New structures in Spratlys: RP

New structures in Spratlys: RP

MANILA (AFP): New structures are being erected on an uninhabited reef in the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea, Philippine Defense Secretary Orlando Mercado said on Tuesday.

But he said he did not know which country was building them. "We have not yet confirmed if it is the Chinese or the Vietnamese who are building the structures," he told reporters.

The structures, resembling the steel skeletons of buildings under construction, are rising on the Lizzie Weper reef, located within an area of the Spratlys claimed by the Philippines, he said.

The reef, also called Magsaysay reef by the Philippines, is about 215 nautical miles from the western Philippine island of Balabac and is surrounded by three of the Spratly islands occupied by Vietnam.