AMTI also reported that three to four runways might be planned<\/u><\/a> for different features. <\/p>\n \u201cThree years from when it first began, Vietnam is still surprising observers with the ever-increasing scope of its dredging and landfill in the Spratly Islands,\u201d the think tank said.<\/p>\n Hanoi\u2019s island building program stemmed from a Communist Party resolution in 2007 on maritime strategy toward the year 2020, according to Carlyle Thayer, a Vietnam expert at the University of New South Wales in Australia.<\/p>\n The resolution set out an integrated strategy to develop coastal areas, an exclusive economic zone, and 27 land features in the South China Sea with the objective that this area would contribute between 53% and 55% of the gross domestic product by 2020, Thayer said.<\/p>\n It was only in 2021 that Vietnam began a modest program of landfill and infrastructure construction on its features in the Spratly Islands, Thayer said.<\/p>\n By that time, China had completed the construction of its \u201cBig Three\u201d artificial islands in the South China Sea \u2013 Fiery Cross, Mischief and Subi reefs \u2013 and equipped them with runways and military facilities. <\/p>\n The island-building program<\/u><\/a> focuses mainly on the so-called integrated marine economy, the analyst told Radio Free Asia, noting that there are only modest defenses such as pillboxes, trenches and gun emplacements on the newly developed features.<\/p>\n Vietnam has long been wary of causing tension with China but its increasing assertiveness had led to a re-think in Hanoi.<\/p>\n \u201cVietnam has not placed major weapon systems on its land features that would threaten China\u2019s artificial islands,\u201d Thayer said. <\/p>\n \u201cBut no doubt the rise in Chinese aggressiveness against the Philippines after the election of Ferdinand Marcos Jr. reinforced Vietnam\u2019s determination not to leave its island features in the Spratlys exposed.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cVietnamese occupation also serves to deny China the opportunity to occupy these features as China did when it took control of unoccupied Mischief Reef belonging to the Philippines in 1984,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n Carl Schuster, a retired U.S. navy captain based in Hawaii, said that on the surface, Vietnam and China appeared to have strong, positive relations but \u201cat its roots, the relationship is one of distrust and for Vietnam, pragmatism.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cVietnam has noticed that the PRC is most aggressive around undefended or uninhabited islands and islets,\u201d Schuster said, referring to China by its official name the People\u2019s Republic of China. <\/p>\n \u201cHanoi therefore sees expanding, hardening and expanding the garrisons on its own islands as a means of deterring PRC aggression.\u201d<\/p>\n Yet Vietnam\u2019s island building activities have been met with criticism from some neighboring countries. <\/p>\n Malaysia sent a rare letter of complaint to Vietnam in October 2024 over its development of an airstrip<\/u><\/a> on Barque Canada reef \u2013 a feature that Malaysia also claims in the South China Sea.<\/p>\n Another neighbor, the Philippines, announced that it was closely \u201cmonitoring\u201d Vietnam\u2019s island building<\/u><\/a> activities.<\/p>\n In July 2023, the pro-China Manila Times<\/i> published two reports on what it called \u201cVietnam\u2019s militarization of the South China Sea,\u201d citing leaked masterplans on island development from the Vietnamese defense ministry.<\/p>\n Shortly after the publication, a group of Filipinos staged a protest in front of the Vietnamese embassy in Manila, vandalizing the Vietnamese flag. The incident did not escalate but soured the usually friendly relationship between the two neighbors.<\/p>\n The Southeast Asian bloc ASEAN has long been negotiating with China on a Code of Conduct in the South China Sea and the consensus is to observe the status quo in the disputed waterway and maintain peace.<\/p>\n Azmi Hassan, a senior fellow at Malaysia\u2019s Nusantara Academy for Strategic Research, explained that status quo means \u201cthere shouldn\u2019t be any new reclamation, especially in the Spratly or Paracel Islands as new reclamation could create some instability.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBut in the case of Vietnam, it\u2019s very difficult to stop them because the Chinese have been doing it for many years and China has the longest airstrip and the biggest reclamation on Mischief Reef,\u201d Hassan said.<\/p>\n Malaysia also built an airstrip on Pulau Layang-Layang, known internationally as Swallow Reef, which is claimed by several countries including Vietnam.<\/p>\n \u201cSo it\u2019s very hard to criticize Vietnam because Malaysia has done it, China has done it, and the Philippines has been doing it for quite some time,\u201d the analyst said.<\/p>\n Greg Poling, AMTI\u2019s director, told RFA that in his opinion, Hanoi\u2019s goal with the development of features in the South China Sea \u201cappears to be to allow it to better patrol its exclusive economic zone by sea and air in the face of China\u2019s persistent presence.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat seems a reasonable and proportionate response,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The U.S. government has taken no public position on the issue but the Obama administration did push for a construction freeze by all parties, Poling said.<\/p>\n Then-U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter visited Hanoi in June 2015 and discussed the issue during a meeting with his Vietnamese counterpart, Phung Quang Thanh and, according to the transcript of a press briefing<\/u><\/a>. <\/p>\n Carter was told that \u201cthe government of Vietnam is considering \u2026 a permanent halt to reclamation and further militarization\u201d of the new islands.<\/p>\n \u201cBut that was when the prime goal was to stop China\u2019s island building,\u201d Poling said. \u201cObviously that didn\u2019t work so now I think the U.S. and other parties understand that Vietnam is not likely to agree to unilaterally restrain itself when China has already done it.\u201d <\/p>\n RELATED STORIES<\/b><\/p>\n Malaysia objects to Vietnam\u2019s South China Sea island building: media<\/u><\/a><\/p>\n Vietnam builds airstrip on reclaimed land in South China Sea<\/u><\/a><\/p>\n Vietnam\u2019s South China Sea island building sets record in 2024: report<\/u><\/a><\/p>\n In 2015, Vietnam still insisted that it was only carrying out activities \u201cto enhance and to consolidate the islands that are under our sovereignty.\u201d<\/p>\n In the late Gen. Phung Quang Thanh\u2019s words: \u201cWe do not expand those islands, we just consolidate to prevent the soil erosion because of the waves, to improve the livelihood of our people and of our personnel who are working and living there.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAnd for the submerged features, we have built small houses and buildings, which can accommodate only three people, and we do not expand those features. And the scope and the characteristics of those features are just civilian in nature,\u201d Thanh told Carter.<\/p>\n Fast forward 10 years, and Vietnam has reclaimed a total area of about half of what China has built up and among the 10 largest features in the Spratlys, five are being developed by Hanoi with an unknown, but no doubt massive budget.<\/p>\n The island building program, however, has been received positively by the Vietnamese public. <\/p>\n Photos and video clips from the now popular Bai Thuyen Chai, Dao Tien Nu and Phan Vinh \u2013 or Barque Canada, Tennent and Pearson reefs respectively \u2013 have been shared and admired by millions of social media users as proof of Vietnamese military might and economic success even if the construction comes at a big environmental cost.<\/p>\n South China Sea researcher Dinh Kim Phuc told RFA Vietnamese that despite the environmental damage, Vietnam\u2019s actions \u201cmust happen\u201d and are necessary for \u201cstrategic defense\u201d as long as China does not quit its expansionist ambitions.<\/p>\n However, some experts have warned against the effectiveness of such artificial islands from a military standpoint.<\/p>\n \u201cLike Chinese-built islands, Vietnamese built islands are, by nature, small areas of land that are difficult to defend against modern land-attack missile capabilities, and given their low altitude, they are at the mercy of salt water corrosion of structures and systems ashore,\u201d said Malcolm Davis, a senior analyst in defense strategy and capability at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute.<\/p>\n \u201cSo as with Chinese experience, the Vietnamese will also struggle to base military capabilities on these islands for extended periods of time,\u201d Davis told RFA. <\/p>\n \u201cIn the longer term, they are also going to be vulnerable to the effects of climate change – most notably, sea level rise, which could quickly swamp a low-level landmass and see it become unusable.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThese challenges are why I don\u2019t worry too much about those Chinese-built bases in the South China Sea, as I think Beijing has made a bad investment there,\u201d the analyst added.<\/p>\n AMTI\u2019s Poling said rising sea levels and storm surge would threaten all the islands \u201cbut it is something that both China and Vietnam are likely able to cope with by continually refilling the islands and building up higher sea walls.\u201d<\/p>\n That would entail considerable costs and cause even more environmental impact<\/u><\/a>.<\/p>\n Iman Muttaqin Yusof in Kuala Lumpur contributed to this story<\/b><\/i><\/p>\n Edited by Mike Firn<\/b><\/i><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n![\"China](\"https:\/\/www.rfa.org\/resizer\/v2\/TVLRRT3QRFDKPLMXH2N37FOWTU.jpg?auth=18806785557fd16fa9e1030024052642469f84b174b01c0e6fca32230912535c&smart=true&width=1500\")
Risk of tension<\/b><\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.rfa.org\/resizer\/v2\/AN5OEX5HMRHQXK6RZE5T4JGALM.jpg?auth=ed046334ee95a50fac9f07f4027757a46ae6395d2704f25c5128bda266cd5824&smart=true&width=1500\")
(AFP)<\/small><\/figure>\n![\"Vietnam](\"https:\/\/www.rfa.org\/resizer\/v2\/VCX5FXANMFC4JPBGZXWUSZBEFQ.jpg?auth=423328855e488a7deda7bc49f4a0e4c8b4260aa4adb86b9c80073558024c88fc&smart=true&width=1500\")
Reasonable response<\/b><\/h3>\n
![\"Philippine](\"https:\/\/www.rfa.org\/resizer\/v2\/KCRPTSIQEBARHI4UPUVQB5V5RA.jpg?auth=062457fcadf0a02b93280734392bac1c32dbfde6184a75a7a4f84ea4ad810446&smart=true&width=1500\")
Bad investment?<\/b><\/h3>\n
![\"Pearson](\"https:\/\/www.rfa.org\/resizer\/v2\/YNANJU77QNAE5KGTWZASGJMZ5E.jpg?auth=d07c6f52f2bdb463f5fc1b7fd5d103ce3ae503b85077fb842909a0a0ee5f41fd&smart=true&width=1500\")