China began in the autumn of 2025 a program of development aimed at installing logistical systems, radars, a heliport, as well as a runway on the Antelope Reef, a six-kilometer-long formation located about 280 kilometers from the Chinese coast and 320 kilometers from Vietnam.
- Satellite images taken by Vantor on July 19 and August 14 show that Beijing has recently completed the first phase of construction on the reef, whose outline now appears to be fully reclaimed.
- According to CSIS, development work had already begun in preparation for the construction of a 3-kilometer-long airstrip in the northwest part of the reef.
- The island possesses a major strategic asset: a deep-water port that could, in due course, enable resupply for ships patrolling the South China Sea.
Given the scale of the works, Antelope Reef could become China’s largest outpost in the region.
- This marks Beijing’s first major construction project in the South China Sea since 2017, before international pressure slowed its expansionism.
- The site benefits from a strategic location that could host surface-to-air and anti-ship missiles as well as aircraft, as on the neighboring Woody Island, located about 100 kilometers away.
Once operational, Antelope Reef could support the operations of China’s coast guard. In order to bolster its territorial claims in the South China Sea, Beijing has significantly invested in this sector in recent years and now possesses a fleet of nearly 700 vessels, making it the largest in the world.
- Chinese coast guards are regularly involved in clashes with crews of fishing boats from regional countries — notably the Philippines and Vietnam — and also participate in exercises with the navy.
- According to maritime law expert Lowell Bautista, the infrastructure under construction at Antelope should enable the coast guards to organize deployments “more persistent and better coordinated.”
In its latest projections, CSIS estimates that the patrols of Chinese coast guards could double this year compared with 2025 around Scarborough Shoal, off the Philippines, if the trend observed in the first half of the year continues.
- Indeed, during the first six months of the year, 933 days of presence by Chinese coast guard ships were recorded around the reef, versus 1,099 for all of 2025.
- Last year had already been a record, with twice as many days of presence of coast guard ships as in 2024 (1,099 versus 516).