‘No dispute about it’: Beijing defends construction on Paracel Islands in South China Sea

China says living conditions and local economy stand to benefit, days after Vietnam states opposition to land-reclamation activities

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China and Vietnam have competing territorial claims over the Paracels, which Beijing calls the Xisha Islands and Hanoi calls the Hoang Sa Islands. Photo: Shutterstock

Published: 7:01pm, 23 Mar 2026Updated: 8:37pm, 23 Mar 2026

Beijing has defended ongoing land-reclamation activities in the contested Paracel Islands in the South China Sea, saying they are aimed at improving living conditions and boosting the local economy.

“The Xisha Islands are an inherent part of China’s territory and there is no dispute about it,” foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian said on Monday, using the Chinese name for the archipelago.

“China’s necessary construction activities on its own territory are aimed at improving the living conditions of the islands’ residents and serving local economic development,” Lin said, without specifying the location of the activities.

His comments came just days after Vietnamese foreign ministry spokeswoman Pham Thu Hang said Vietnam “resolutely opposes” Chinese land-reclamation activities and had made representations about them, following reports of accelerated dredging and landfill operations at Antelope Reef in the Paracels, which Vietnam calls the Hoang Sa Islands.

She said Hanoi had “ample historical evidence and legal grounds” to assert sovereignty over the Paracel Islands, including Antelope Reef, and called any foreign activities in the waters without Vietnam’s permission “completely illegal and invalid”.

‘No dispute about it’: Beijing defends construction on Paracel Islands in South China Sea

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}China says living conditions and local economy stand to benefit, days after Vietnam states opposition to land-reclamation activities

China says living conditions and local economy stand to benefit, days after Vietnam states opposition to land-reclamation activities