Overview

• New CSIS/AMTI imagery documents Vietnamese dredging and landfill at eight Spratly features not previously built up.
• Once small outposts have been turned into artificial islands at Alison, Collins, East, Landsdowne and Petley reefs.
• Vietnam has also expanded earlier works at Amboyna Cay, Grierson Reef and West Reef.
• The report says Vietnam’s current pace could put it ahead of China in total recent land reclamation.
• Analysts warn the build-out may strain ASEAN unity among overlapping claimants including the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei, while Beijing asserts broad claims over the waterway.