Vietnam has conducted a major expansion of dredging and landfill work at several of its South China Sea outposts in the second half of this year, signaling an intent to significantly fortify its claims in the disputed waterway, a US think tank reported.
Washington's Center for Strategic and International Studies said the work in the Spratly Islands, which are also claimed by China and others, had created roughly 420 acres of new land and brought the total area Vietnam had reclaimed in the past decade to 540 acres .
"The scale of the landfill work, while still falling far short of the more than 3,200 acres of land created by China from 2013 to 2016, is significantly larger than previous efforts from Vietnam and represents a major move toward reinforcing its position in the Spratlys," the report said.
AMTI said Vietnam used clamshell dredgers to scoop up sections of shallow reef and deposit the sediment for landfill, a less destructive process than the cutter-suction dredging China had used to build its artificial islands.
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