There was "no such thing" as man-made islands in the disputed South China Sea, China's Defense Ministry said on Thursday, and reiterated that any building work was mainly for civilian purposes. The building has included airports, harbors, and other facilities, involving in some cases the dumping of massive amounts of sand to build up land on what were reefs or structures that may only have been exposed at low tide.

Beijing denies island-building in South China Sea. (2017, April 1). The Philippine Star, pp. 1, 2.