Vietnam has revved up its land reclamation efforts in the South China Sea this year, beginning construction on eight previously untouched features in the Spratly Islands. The hotly contested archipelago has been turned from a scattering of low-lying reefs and partially submerged rocks into weaponized artificial islands mainly by China and Vietnam. Analysts say Hanoi’s island-building is a defensive response to Beijing’s militarization of its South China Sea outposts including those in the Spratly Islands, since 2013.
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