China activates light houses in South China Sea ahead of verdict tomorrow

BEIJING: China has activated four out of five lighthouses planned for use in the South China Sea, firming up its hold on the disputed region ahead of tomorrow's verdict by an international tribunal that could threaten its expansive claims in the area.

"The five lighthouses are important public service facilities in the South China Sea. Their construction and operation shows China is performing its responsibilities and obligations in international maritime affairs," China's Maritime Safety Administration Director Xu Ruqing said at a press conference in Ningbo, Zhejiang Province.

Xu said the lighthouses will serve multiple purposes, including navigation support, maritime search and rescue, fishing, and marine disaster prevention and mitigation. The lighthouses will also lower the risk of oil spills, he added.

The five judge tribunal appointed by Permanent Court of Arbitration is set to deliver a verdict on the Philippines petition challenging China's claims on almost all of SCS.

The petition challenges China's nine dash line that it uses to claim virtually the entire SCS and which Manila opposes because it infringes upon its own 200-mile exclusive economic zone. Besides Philippines, China's claims are contested by Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan.

China has boycotted the proceeding of the tribunal constituted under the UN Convention on Law of Seas, saying that it is illegal and its verdict is not binding on it.

China has already built artificial islands and one of it has airstrip and other facilities.

The SCS is a critical maritime corridor linking the Pacific and Indian oceans, characterized by a complex coastal geography of islands, reefs, sandbars and shoals, Xu said.

However, the lack of records on their exact location, water depth and water temperature in the region makes it necessary for China to build navigation safety facilities there, Xu was quoted as saying by state-run Global Times.

The lighthouse on Yongshu Reef, the fourth and latest put into use, started operating on May 26, Zheng Heping, a counsel at Maritime Safety Administration, told the Global Times.

It has a height of 55 meters, and like other lighthouses in the SCS, it is equipped with a lantern of 4.5 meters in diameter and emits white light at night with a range of 22 nautical miles, Zheng said, adding that the fifth lighthouse, being built on Meiji Reef, is undergoing tests and will soon be activated.