Little by little, China is moving into the South China Sea. According to satellite images from US data company Planet Labs, Beijing has begun building new infrastructure on a small island in the Paracel archipelago, south of the Chinese island of Hainan, east of the Vietnamese coast – an area claimed by both countries, but controlled de facto by China since 1974. In addition to a cement factory, the images clearly show the construction of a runway in the middle of the island, reinforcing projection capabilities in this area over which Beijing claims almost total sovereignty, including in the exclusive economic zones of countries in the region. The construction and militarization of islets in the South China Sea, which first came to light in 2015, is continuing discreetly, alongside more obvious actions.

Further east, on Saturday, August 19, Beijing launched major military exercises near Taiwan, officially in retaliation for the Taiwanese vice president's visit to Paraguay, during which he made a stopover in the United States. These exercises, in which Chinese aircraft are flown a little further each time, allow China to challenge the status quo with the independent island, whose sovereignty it also claims. The vice-president, William Lai (Lai Ching-te, his Chinese name), who is also the candidate of the Democratic Progressive Party and favorite in the presidential election scheduled for January 2024, is a defender of Taiwan's sovereignty.

Another point of tension in the area is that in early August, Filipino vessels were prevented by Chinese coastguards using water cannons from refueling a wreck that was supposed to maintain a presence in the area. Occupied by a few Filipino military personnel, it had been purposely sunk on a sandbank in 1999 to mark Manila's territorial claims.

In the Paracel archipelago, Triton Island, some 1,500 meters long, is the closest to Vietnamese territory, less than 300 kilometers from the coast. According to satellite data available on Google Earth, dated 2020, the island previously had a port, a few buildings surrounded by trees, a sports field and a heliport. Two 50-meter-high red flags of the Communist Party and the country can also be seen on the ground, along with the slogan: "The glory of the Party is eternal, 10,000 years to the homeland," in giant Chinese characters. Planet Labs' August 10 photos show that the port has been reinforced with new buildings, and that a runway has been built. At 600 meters long and less than 15 meters wide, it would not be enough to serve as a landing strip for wide-body aircraft but could be used for light aircraft or drones.

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