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IPFS News Link • China

China: Oh that thing?

• Business Insider

China has begun operating a lighthouse on one of its artificial islands in the South China Sea near where a US warship sailed last year to challenge China's territorial claims.

China claims most of the energy-rich waters of the South China Sea, through which about $5 trillion in ship-borne trade passes every year. But its neighbors Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Vietnam also have claims.

China's transport ministry held a "completion ceremony," marking the start of operations of the 180-foot lighthouse on Subi Reef, where construction began in October, the state news agency Xinhua said late Tuesday.

The US guided-missile destroyer USS Lassen sailed within 12 nautical miles of Subi Reef in October, drawing an angry rebuke from China, which called the action "extremely irresponsible."


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