Vietnam accelerates land building in disputed South China Sea

Vietnam is rapidly expanding its footprint in the South China Sea, with new satellite images showing fresh land reclamation across the Spratly Islands. Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative analysts say Hanoi could soon surpass China in the total area it has built up from the sea.

AMTI reports that all 21 Spratly positions held by Vietnam now include reclaimed land.

Imagery shows what AMTI assesses as munitions storage facilities and clusters of buildings on several newly enlarged reefs, arrangements that limit space for full-length runways. The one runway AMTI noted is an 8,000-foot airstrip that is under construction on Barque Canada Reef.

How does this compare with China’s activities?

China created seven artificial islands in the Spratlys between 2013 and 2017. It later added jet facilities, missile systems and other military infrastructure despite earlier assurances against militarization, according to AMTI reporting summarized by Newsweek.

Those outposts now support routine coast-guard patrols and other gray-zone operations that pressure neighboring claimants.

Since early 2025, AMTI has identified new Vietnamese construction at eight features — including Collins, Alison, Petley, Lansdowne and East Reefs — as well as additional landfill at Amboyna Cay, Grierson Reef and West Reef, where smaller man-made islands already existed.

Vietnam, second only to China in its Spratly footprint, has expanded quickly. AMTI’s running total puts Vietnam’s reclaimed area above 2,300 acres by mid-2025, roughly two-thirds of China’s overall tally. Much of the recent Vietnamese build-out involves harbors, which AMTI assesses will extend the time its naval and law-enforcement forces can remain at sea.

What has been the international reaction?

Beijing has protested the activity.

“The Nansha [Spratly] Islands are China’s inherent territory, and Baijiao is part of the Nansha Islands,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said at a regular briefing. “China has always opposed relevant countries carrying out construction activities on illegally occupied islands and reefs.”

The Spratlys are contested in whole or in part by China, Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei. The South China Sea is a strategic waterway that carries about a third of global trade.

AMTI’s findings raise concerns about further militarization as well as ecological damage to reefs and fish stocks. With China’s earlier island-building now entrenched and Vietnam’s steep pace, the dispute over the Spratlys is intensifying in one of the world’s most contested maritime regions.