Top Chinese military officer visited troops stationed on disputed islands, Beijing says

The Chinese military’s No 2 paid an unprecedented visit to Beijing’s artificial islands in the South China Sea in recent days, the defence ministry said on Friday.

General Fan Changlong, vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission, the body governing the PLA and chaired by President Xi Jinping, led a delegation to inspect construction on the islands, the ministry said in a brief statement. The works included lighthouses, weather stations and other facilities, it said.

China has seven reclaimed reefs in the contested waters and says the outposts are largely for civilian purposes.

The ministry did not specify which ones Fan visited or the exact date, but the inspection coincided with joint military drills the United States is conducting in the area with the Philippines, Japan and Australia. Fan is the most senior Chinese military official known to have visited the islands. In September 2014, Admiral Wu Shengli, commander of the PLA Navy, inspected reclamation work in the region, according to a report from Taiwan’s national security bureau.

The ministry’s announcement came as US Defence Secretary Ash Carter visited the US aircraft carrier the USS John C. Stennis, a move likely to upset Beijing. On Thursday, Carter announced an enhanced “military alliance” between the US and the Philippines, and expressed his concerns over China’s activities in the South China Sea.

It is the second time he has visited a carrier deployed the area. In November, he landed on the USS Theodore Roosevelt.