Chinese experts defend Beijing's right to build on Antelope Reef, framing it as humanitarian work
中方为何在羚羊礁开展岛礁建设？解读来了
China has completed the first phase of construction on Antelope Reef (Lingyang Jiao) in the Paracel Islands (Xisha Qundao), drawing renewed foreign media scrutiny. In an article for the state-affiliated Global Times, multiple Chinese experts assert the construction improves living conditions for Chinese fishermen and provides public goods, such as enhanced navigation and search-and-rescue capabilities. The piece frames the reef as indisputable Chinese territory, citing historical records, and dismisses foreign objections as lacking any legal basis.
The view from inside
The Global Times article presents the construction as a sovereign act of development, not a military expansion. It employs the domestic policy lexicon of "坚持以人民为中心的发展思想" (upholding the people-centered development…
Free. The read from inside China is the part we ask you to sign in for.