The 16 June announcement by China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs that some of the island building in the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea "will be completed in the upcoming days" is supported by satellite imagery of the first reef to be modified in this way.
Airbus Defence and Space imagery of Johnson South Reef taken on 4 June 2015 shows that the outline of the about 103,000 m 2 island has been completed, while construction of the main buildings appears finished and other infrastructure continues to be built at an accelerated rate.
The satellite imagery, along with photographs published by Vietnamese state media that were taken from nearby Collins Reef, shows that all the main buildings - including a large, multistorey administrative building that measures about 40 x 45 m - are complete. This corroborates posts on Chinese military online forums reporting that main construction at Johnson South Reef had been finished by mid-May.
As well as the main buildings, key new features include a solar farm in the centre of the island and the construction of a helipad on the north side. Two wind turbines have also been installed close to the solar panels.
There is no evidence that weapons systems have been installed, although a number of hexagonal towers have been built on the island that seem to be designed as watch towers or to house sensors or weapons. At least two of these are likely lighthouses, according to Chinese reports.
