Washington-based think tank Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative of the Center for Strategic and International Studies (Amti-CSIS) on Thursday disproved the claims of Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Philippine Foreign Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano that China is no longer doing reclamation work on any of the disputed islands in the South China Sea. Amti released satellite photos dated Aug. 5 showing reclamation work on Tree Island and North Island in the Paracel Islands, which are disputed by Vietnam and China. Cayetano admitted that the Philippines was among the countries that did not want to include criticism on China’s land reclamation and militarization in the Spratlys in the joint communiqué issued by Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) foreign ministers after their meeting in Manila earlier this week.

Dizon, N. (2017, August 11). China island-building still on. Philippine Daily Inquirer, p. A8.