China's foreign ministry has issued a statement on Saturday, Oct. 10, on the putting up of the two lighthouses on reefs in the South China Sea, which it said will serve as guide to passing vessels and significantly improve navigation safety, the Xinhua News Agency reported.
According to the ministry, the South China Sea is an active sea lane and an important international shipping and fishing region. The ministry added that maritime traffic accidents happen quite often, complicated by marine and weather conditions.
"The lighthouses on Huayang (Cuarteron) and Chigua (Johnson South) reefs of China's Nansha (Spratly) Islands will provide efficient navigational aid and route guidance services and significantly improve navigation safety for passing vessels in the South China Sea," foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said.
On Friday, Oct. 9, China held a ceremony marking the start of operation of the two lighthouses, which were completed as planned.
Hua said that navigational notices and warnings on the operation of the lighthouses will be implemented, based on China's Maritime Traffic Safety Law and international practice.
The foreign ministry spokesperson said that China will continue building other civilian and public facilities on its stationed reefs of the islands, to better serve passing vessels in the area and for the benefit of coastal nations in the South China Sea.
The Spratly Islands are a group of reefs and shoals in the disputed South China Sea which are claimed by China, Taiwan, Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei.
In 2002, China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) issued a non-binding declaration in which they pledged to avoid making any provocative moves in disputed territory, including construction on disputed features, but attempts to establish a code of conduct did not materialize, according to a Wall Street Journal report.
In May, China started building a construction project in the disputed Spratly Islands. The move drew a formal protest from the Philippines, which said that it violates a longstanding pledge not to build structures on any of the South China Sea's contested islands.