In 2021, Vietnam began expanding some of its small- and medium-sized outposts in the Spratly Islands through dredging and landfill. As of now, that effort has resulted in over 2,200 acres of new land being created across ten features, with eight new harbors and one new airstrip completed thus far. The scale of Vietnam’s island building is second only to China’s, which created 3,500 acres of land in the Spratlys from 2013 to 2017. And, like China, Vietnam’s dredging campaign will have permanent and far-reaching effects.

Pretat, H. (2025, April 2). The ripple effects of Vietnam's Island-building in the South China Sea. Daily Guardian, pp. 5, 9.