While the world watched the islands in the Persian Gulf, China seized an island in the South China Sea without firing a shot. Beijing’s dredgers are working to develop an artificial island 400 km off Vietnam’s coast at astonishing speed. What’s even more shocking is that the world has largely ignored China’s blatant power grab. Vietnam’s first strong official protest did not come until March, more than five months after dredging began. As it has done in the Philippines for many years, China is conducting explicit legal battles and kinetic warfare exercises. The international community should resist China’s actions at Antelope Reef to avoid another crisis in the South China Sea – and prevent China from gaining a military advantage in the Taiwan conflict.
China’s Island-Building Program Is Back – And the World Ignores It
Antelope Reef is a marine feature in the Paracel Islands in the western Crescent Group. The Paracel Islands have been controlled by China since 1974, when it seized them from South Vietnam. Antelope Reef is claimed by China, Taiwan and Vietnam. Reports vary as to whether Antelope Reef is a rock or a reef under international law. In any case, this is not an island that can create a 12-nautical-mile territorial sea and a 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ). China claims sovereignty over Antelope Reef under an illegal interpretation of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), known as the Constitution of the Oceans. Under UNCLOS, the legal status of an entity is frozen in its pre-renovation state. In other words, China cannot build an island on Antelope Reef and then claim that, because it is now an island, China has sovereign rights to all economic resources in the surrounding EEZ.
The world ignored it when China began building the Antelope Reef three years ago. In February 2023, the Hainan provincial government launched a tender to assess the environmental capacity of Antelope Reef. Satellite imagery shows dredging operations beginning in October 2025. In January 2026, Newsweek first reported on construction activity on the reef that included berths for roll-on/roll-off vessels. By February 2026, 22 cut-off dredgers were working on the reef. This activity has created several square kilometers of new land, with significant reclamation visible across more than 15 square kilometers of the reef. Satellite images also show that the straight northwest edge could easily accommodate a 9,000-foot runway. More than 50 gray-roofed structures can be seen, including a helipad, concrete factory and causeway.
Dredgers violated international law by creating coral reefs. The fleet concentrated at the Zhujiang Estuary between Macau and Hong Kong, then systematically disabled its automatic identification transmitters (AIS) before proceeding south. International. The law requires these transponders to maintain maritime safety. Only one dredger sent AIS signals during the first three months of construction. Subsidiaries of China Communications Construction Company, an entity sanctioned by the United States, appear to be carrying out the construction.
China’s artificial island building program is illegal
China’s similar island-building activities have been considered illegal under UNCLOS. From 2013 to 2015, China carried out extensive land reclamation in the Spratly archipelago, building seven artificial islands, most in areas claimed by the Philippines and Vietnam. These outposts have improved China’s intelligence and surveillance capabilities, enhanced its presence and sovereignty claims, and increased its operational advantage. China’s artificial island building program has also violated the sovereign rights of neighboring countries in their exclusive economic zones. In 2016, in a landmark arbitral award between the Philippines and China, the arbitral tribunal held that large-scale dredging that caused widespread coral reef destruction violated China’s obligations under UNCLOS Part XII to protect and preserve the marine environment, including obligations to prevent, reduce and control pollution and ecosystem damage.
China’s justification for building at Antelope Reef echoes what it said about the Spratly Islands before and after the arbitration. In 2015, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the construction of artificial islands aims to “optimize functions, improve the living and working conditions of personnel stationed there, and better protect territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests.” In 2017, a spokesman said the purpose of building the facilities was to improve living and working conditions for military personnel stationed there and to better protect sovereignty. Now, in 2026, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on March 23 that the Paracels are “China’s inherent, undisputed territory” and that “necessary construction on our territory is aimed at improving living and working conditions on the islands and developing the local economy.” China is restructuring its construction activities as a normal internal governance activity. It is deflecting questions of sovereignty by focusing on civilian use and establishing a civilian presence. China is now making similar arguments about recently built structures in the Yellow Sea.
Why China’s Antelope Reef Base Matters
China declared the 2016 ruling “null and void” and a “waste piece of paper.” For some time, however, it has stopped building new islands in the South China Sea – it stopped building in the Spratlys after the arbitration case, and recent construction at Antelope Reef was the first significant island-building activity since 2017 – and was a major escalation in its island-building campaign. China is showing the world that it can build islands much faster than before, revealing its ability to respond to any future contingency. The reclaimed land on Antelope Reef is gradually becoming the largest man-made island in the South China Sea. For some time, China has maintained that it has not militarized the Spratly Islands, but it has made no secret of its militarization of Antelope Reef. The size of the lagoon at Antelope Reef would make it large enough for a large coast guard and maritime militia presence, giving these fleets a formidable base in the Paracels. Antelope Reef is about 300 kilometers from the submarine base of the People’s Liberation Army’s South Sea Fleet at Sanya Port. Strengthening forces at Antelope Reef could enhance China’s ability to intercept US reconnaissance activities and target submarines around the base.
As the 10th anniversary of the South China Sea dispute approaches, the international community must pressure China to comply with international law. US freedom of navigation operations in the Paracels should continue. But sailing around an island illegally will not stop its construction. Law-abiding countries must condemn China’s illegal behavior. Coordinated diplomatic statements and media campaigns from neighboring countries in the South China Sea, backed by the United States, Japan, Australia and Europe, could put China on the defensive. Previous transparency initiatives have slowed or stopped China’s illegal practices. They also object to China’s narrative in the region, which seeks to portray its actions as legitimate. The United States could also lead targeted economic pressure on China Communications Construction and other entities involved in China’s illegal construction activities. Vessels not transmitting AIS signals may be boarded under appropriate circumstances.
China may also be held legally responsible for its illegal conduct. Vietnam should consider carefully choosing arbitration under UNCLOS, with international support. Hanoi has conducted dredging operations in the East Sea, further complicating the case. However, the lawsuit focusing on China’s violation of Vietnam’s rights in its exclusive economic zone and the environmental destruction of coral reefs will have a solid legal basis.
The 2016 ruling stopped a number of illegal actions by China and has shaped the behavior of countries in the South China Sea since then. Emphasizing the ruling and reinforcing it with a second lawsuit would add to its legitimacy and cement China’s position as a regional rogue. The world must act against China’s illegal actions before there are specific remedies.
This article was originally published on Forbes.com