A US Navy reconnaissance plane flying over the Spratly island chain in the South China Sea where Beijing has turned low-lying coral reefs into military garrisons got warned six times by the Chinese military to leave “Chinese territory.” A CNN team aboard the US Navy P-8A plane said it got a rare look on Friday at the Chinese government’s rapidly expanding militarization of the South China Sea as the aircraft flew 16,500 feet past four key artificial islands – Zamora (Subi), Kagitingan (Fiery Cross) Reef, Mabini (Johnson) Reef and Panganiban (Mischief) Reef – in the Spratly chain. CNN said it saw five-story buildings, large radar installations, power plants and runways sturdy enough to carry large military aircraft on the islands.

Katigbak, J. (2018, August 12). CNN gets rare look at Chinese militarization of SCS. The Philippine Star, p. 3.