WASHINGTON—China’s President Xi Jinping made a public commitment for the first time on Friday not to “militarize” artificial islands that Beijing has been building in the disputed South China Sea.
But in a news conference with President Barack Obama at the White House, Mr. Xi didn’t expand on the term, leaving it unclear how his commitment would affect China’s activities in the Spratly islands.
New satellite imagery released earlier on Friday showed that China had recently completed a runway on one of its artificial islands, which could allow it to accelerate construction and begin air patrols in the area, according to IHS Jane’s Defence Weekly.
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Mr. Obama had been expected to press Mr. Xi at Friday’s summit to freeze China’s island-building in the Spratlys, which has raised concern in the U.S. and among its allies about Beijing’s military ambitions.
At the news conference, Mr. Xi repeated China’s longstanding position that it has had sovereignty over the South China Sea islands “since ancient times.”
“Relevant construction activities that China is undertaking in the Nansha [Spratly] islands do not target or impact any country and China does not intend to pursue militarization,” he said.
A senior U.S. administration official said Mr. Xi’s commitment was new, although it sounded familiar to statements made by lower level officials to Secretary of State John Kerry over the summer.
“It is new language,” said Bonnie Glaser, an expert on the Chinese military at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
“Unclear what he means by militarization, however. Hopefully, there’s some detail. No fighters using the airstrips? No deployment of missiles?”
China has said in recent months that its new facilities on the islands are designed to improve living conditions, marine safety and weather monitoring, but will also be used for military purposes.
U.S. officials say China’s facilities could be used to enhance its ability to enforce territorial claims in the area and to establish an air defense identification zone over much of the South China Sea.
“What Xi meant by his statement depends on how he or China defines the term” militarization, said M. Taylor Fravel, an expert on the Chinese military at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
He said many of the Spratlys features held by China and other claimants were already militarized in that they were garrisoned with some troops and with some minimum level of defensive weaponry.
“Rhetorically, it probably helps the U.S. and others to be able to refer to Xi’s statement when assessing China’s actions in the region,” Mr. Fravel said. “But to do so effectively requires a clear and not overly broad definition of militarization.”
The satellite images released Friday were taken on Sept. 20 and showed helipads and bearings painted on the nearly 2-mile-long runway on one of the artificial islands, known as Fiery Cross Reef, according to IHS Jane’s Defense Weekly.
Chinese construction workers continue to build multiple structures on the artificial island, including a seawall in its harbor and a network of concrete roads, wrote James Hardy, Asia-Pacific Editor of IHS Jane’s Defence Weekly, and Sean O’Connor, satellite imagery analyst for IHS Jane’s.
They added that the workers also appear to have dumped topsoil along the side of the runway in what could be early attempts to grow food on the island or to create landscaping to prevent erosion.