China has started operating two lighthouses on a reef on a disputed island chain in the South China Sea, a state news agency reported, amid rising concerns among the US and China's neighbors about Beijing's maritime ambitions. The Ministry of Transport held a completion ceremony Friday for the 50-meter-high (164-foot-high) Huayang and Chigua lighthouses on Huayang Reef in the Spratly Islands, the official Xinhua News Agency said. The Spratlys, mostly barren islands, reefs and atolls that are believed to be atop oil and natural gas deposits, straddle one of the world's busiest sea lanes.

China starts operating lighthouses on disputed maritime territories. (2015, October 11). Manila Bulletin, p.12.