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China is reported to have stationed fighter jets on Woody Island in the South China Sea, US officials have said. The news come days after Beijing installed surface-to-air missiles on the same disputed island.
Citing two unnamed US officials, Fox News reported Tuesday that US intelligence services had spotted Chinese Shenyang J-11 and Xian JH-7 warplanes on Woody Island over the past few days.
The island, which lies in the disputed Paracel Islands chain, is also claimed by Taiwan and Vietnam. An airfield has been in use there since the 1990s, but it was upgraded last year to accommodate the J-11 fighter jets.
In a separate comment, Head of the US Pacific Command Admiral Harry Harris said China is “clearly militarizing the South China [Sea],” adding that “you’d have to believe in a flat Earth to think otherwise.”