China may have removed missiles from South China Sea island — report

MANILA, Philippines — China may have removed the missile systems it installed on three of its outposts in the South China Sea, according to a report, although it is unclear if this was due to the international pressure Beijing has been facing since the news on it broke.

According to CNN, new analysis from ImageSat International, an Israeli intelligence firm, suggests that China may have already removed or relocated its missile systems.

Previous imagery taken by the intelligence firm showed a number of missile launchers and a radar system on the shore of Woody Island in Paracel Islands. However, CNN said that these had already disappeared based on images taken on Sunday, which ISI said could indicate a decision by China to remove them or transfer them to other parts of the South China Sea.

“It may be a regular practice. If so, within the next few days we may observe a redeployment in the same area,” ISI was quoted by the international network as saying.

Tensions in the disputed waters escalated in recent weeks after it was reported that China deployed missile systems on three of its outposts in the Spratly and Paracel Islands.

China was also revealed to have landed a bomber capable of carrying nuclear-tipped weapons on Woody Island, and this and the missile systems effectively put the Philippines and the whole of Southeast Asia within Beijing’s military reach.

The militarization of the dispute resulted in rebuke from the US, but the Philippines, one of the main parties to the sea row, chose to project a non-confrontational stance as it courts China for money and investments.

China was recently disinvited by the US from a maritime exercise, an “initial response” to Beijing’s militarization of the conflict, the Pentagon said.

"China's continued militarization of disputed features in the South China Sea only serve to raise tensions and destabilize the region," Lt. Col. Christopher Logan, spokesman for the Pentagon, said.

Beijing maintains that the reclamation of features was meant for non-military purposes, but the Pentagon said the installation of weapons showed intent for military use.

Aside from American rebuke, the United Kingdom and France said that their warships would sail in the disputed waters to challenge China’s militarization of the conflict.

French Minister of Armed Forces Florence Parly said that at least five French ships, joined by British helicopters and ships, sailed in the past year in the South China Sea, a region believed to hold vast reserves of natural resources and home to a sea lane through which $3 trillion worth of trade passes.