Chinese military website takes readers and reporters on tour of disputed islands in South China Sea

A People’s Liberation Army news website took a group of reporters and readers to islands in the disputed South China Sea in an attempt to reinforce China’s territorial claims in the increasingly tense region.

Reporters from the website of the official PLA Daily, as well as three people who had won a readers’ competition, on Monday travelled with a Chinese ship taking replenishments to Woody Island, the largest of the Paracels that is known as Yongxing Island in China, according to the official weibo of the newspaper.

The news site had promoted the tour as offering a rare glimpse into the Paracel Islands and the South China Sea.

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“This April, we have a date with Xisha,” said the news site, using the Chinese name for the Paracels. “Take a journey with us, without delay, to listen to the touching stories by the border ­defenders.”

To further introduce the “tourism routes” to its readers, the website also published a series of photos on Wednesday with detailed information of the transport options and leisure activities – including diving and fishing – available on the islands.

The reporters and readers arrived at Woody Island on Tuesday morning, before continuing to Rocket Island and Shenhang Island, which are also in the disputed waters.

In 2012, China established the city of Sansha to administer the Paracels along with the disputed Spratly Islands and the Macclesfield Bank in the South China Sea.