Beijing has fully militarised its manmade South China Sea islands and will add new military bases in Africa and Pakistan, US report says
Base on Spratly Islands has finished expanding and is now being equipped
Hangars, runways, gun emplacement and barracks added, Pentagon says
New fighters will be able to range entire South China Sea from the base
Another base is being builtin Djibouti, while Pakistan could host a third
By CHRIS PLEASANCE
DailyMail.com
7 June 2017
Beijing’s man-made islands in the South China Sea are now bristling with military hardware as the country seeks to build more bases overseas, a US report says.
The base on the hotly-contested Spratly Islands has been outfitted with 24 fighter-sized hangars, runways, water and fuel storage, a large port, communications equipment, fixed-weapon positions and a barracks.
Three squadrons of warplanes will eventually be stationed at the bases, analysts with the Department of Defense believe, allowing Chinese warplanes to operate over the entire region.
Meanwhile construction has already started on another base in Djibouti, a small nation on the east coast of Africa with easy access to the Arabian Peninsula.
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