(Reuters) -
China plans to build lighthouses on five islands in the South China Sea, state
media reported on Thursday, in defiance of calls from the United States and the
Philippines for a freeze on such activity to ease tension over rival claims.
At least two of the islands upon which China said it
will put up lighthouses appear to be in waters also claimed by Vietnam.
Overlapping claims in the South China Sea have
fueled confrontation in recent months with China, which claims 90 percent of
the sea, at odds with Vietnam and the Philippines in particular.
The state-run China News Service said Chinese
authorities had been surveying sites for lighthouses on five islands, known in
English as North Reef, Antelope Reef, Drummond Island, South Sand and Pyramid
Rock.
The survey began on July 27, and "as of Aug. 4
construction sites and alternative locations for lighthouses on the five
islands and reefs had been initially decided upon", the news service said,
quoting a Chinese navigation official.
Drummond Island and Pyramid Rock are in the
China-controlled Paracel Islands - more than 100 small coral islands and reefs
also claimed by Vietnam and Taiwan.
It was not clear whether the other three islets
where lighthouses will be built are also in disputed waters.
The proposal to freeze activities that could stir
tension in the sea, such as building installations and exploiting resources,
was put forward by the United States last month and taken up by the
Philippines.
Southeast Asian foreign ministers are holding a
conference in Myanmar this weekend which U.S.
Secretary of State John Kerry and
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi will join.
Kerry will press for a voluntary freeze on actions
in the sea aggravating disputes, a U.S. official said this week, but China has
already rejected the proposal.
The South China Sea is believed to contain oil and
gas deposits and has bountiful fisheries. As well as China, Brunei, Malaysia,
the Philippines, Vietnam and Taiwan lay claim to parts of the sea, through
which passes about $5 trillion of trade a year.
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