Artificial Islands won't be useful to China in case of a war, claims a Chinese military magazine

Beijing: – Tension has been created in the South China Sea region because of the artificial islands built by China in the area and the military deployment on these islands. But these islands will prove to be a headache for China in case of a war flares up in this region. The Chinese military magazine, Naval and Merchant Ships warned that these artificial islands will be an easy target for the enemy and will not be in any way beneficial to China, militarily. The magazine pointed out that the J-16 fighter jets, considered to be the most advanced in the Chinese air force, cannot be deployed on these islands.

Since the last few years, China has been building a large number of artificial islands with a landfill in the South China Sea. Vietnam and Philippines have claimed that the concerned islands constructed in the Spratly and Paracel island region are a threat to their sovereignty. Whereas, China is trying to dominate the area with the militarisation of these islands. Therefore, the United States and its allies are accusing that the security of the foreign ships sailing through the South China Sea is under threat because of these islands.

A US think tank had published the photographs of the airstrips, radar systems, anti-aircraft guns and missiles on the Woody Island, Ferry Reef, Scarborough island groups. But the military magazine of the China State Shipbuilding Corporation has warned that these islands will prove to be a weakness for China in the future. The magazine has listed four issues for this purpose. These artificial islands are far away from the Chinese mainland in the South China Sea. There is an airstrip on the Ferry Cross Reef, 1,000 kilometres away from the Hainan province in China. The magazine claimed that therefore, in case of an attack on this island, it will take a minimum of 20 hours to reach any aid to the island. The magazine also pointed out that if the J-16 fighter jets are despatched for the security of these islands, they could become a target of the enemy warships patrolling the area between the mainland and the island.

At the same time, all the Chinese artificial islands are flat and open. They don’t have the cover of mountains of hills. Therefore, these islands can be a specific target for the attack from the enemy warships. At the same time, the magazine pointed out that there are no hangars for the security of aircraft. The magazine claimed that most importantly, natural calamities like tsunami, high tides and temperate climates can cause damage to these islands.

In this scenario, it will be difficult for China to run for the security of these artificial islands in case of an attack. Therefore, the magazine claimed that China would not be able to use these islands to its advantage, during war times, despite building and militarising them.