Satellite imagery has shown that China installed significant new weapons in the South China Sea, a Washington-based think tank reports. The weapons, including anti-aircraft and anti-missile systems, were purportedly added recently despite a promise by President Xi Jinping not to “pursue militarization” of the trade route. The images were released by the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative (AMTI), which said they were collected last month and showed a significant fortification of weaponry on manmade islands in the Spratly Archipelago. “These gun and probable CIWS [close-in weapon system] emplacements show that Beijing is serious about defense of its artificial islands in case of an armed contingency in the South China Sea,” the AMTI said in a statement. “Among other things, they would be the last line of defense against cruise missiles launched by the United States or others against these soon-to-be-operational air bases.”
