Ignoring diplomatic protests by nations lining the South China Sea, Beijing is pressing ahead with plans to project its naval and air powers into the region more quickly than governments expected.  Reclamation work to turn six reefs into islands is going so well, the Chinese have started work on a seventh.

IHS Jane’s Defense Weekly published images from an Airbus Defense and Space satellite showing ports and fuel storage depots, as well as possibly two airstrips.  These are built on an artificial island on the Gaven Reefs in the Spratley Islands – claimed by (and closer to) both Vietnam the Philippines, but controlled by China.  One supply platform is believed to be equipped with anti-aircraft guns, naval guns, search radars, and radio communications equipment.

“These reclamations are bigger and more ambitious than we all thought,” said one Western diplomat.  “On many different levels it’s going to be exceptionally difficult to counter China in the South China Sea as this develops.”

In addition to the obvious military implications, there are commercial ones as well.  Ports and fuel would make it a lot easier for China’s fishing fleet to work the South China Sea for longer periods than is currently possible in a region so remote from the Chinese mainland.  It probably won’t overturn US Military superiority in the region, but it’ll be a local game changer.

“Even before you factor in military questions, the expansion of Chinese fishing and coastguard fleets is going to be a strategic shift that is going to be very hard for anyone to counter,” said Carl Thayer, a South China Sea expert at Canberra’s Defense Force Academy.  “And then you will have the navy just over the horizon.”