SINGAPORE (AP) - U.S. surveillance detected two large artillery vehicles on one of the artificial islands China is creating in the South China Sea, U.S. officials said Friday, heightening concerns that Beijing could use the land reclamation projects for military purposes.
The revelation came as Defense Secretary Ash Carter was in the region for an international security summit in Singapore where he is expected to demand anew that China and other nations halt all such projects. While scolding China for aggression, Carter is not expected to offer any indication of what the U.S. might do if the projects proceed.
The weaponry was discovered at least several weeks ago, and two U.S. officials who are familiar with intelligence about the vehicles say they have been removed. The officials weren't authorized to discuss the intelligence and spoke only on condition of anonymity.
The Pentagon would not release any photos to support its contention that the vehicles were there.
China's assertive behavior in the South China Sea has become an increasingly sore point in relations with the United States, even as President Barack Obama and China's President Xi Jinping have sought to deepen cooperation in other areas, such as climate change.
Pentagon spokesman Brent Colburn said the U.S. was aware of the artillery, but he declined to provide other details, saying it was an intelligence matter. Defense officials described the weapons as self-propelled artillery vehicles and said they posed no threat to the U.S. or American territories. Those officials were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke only on condition of anonymity.
The sighting was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.
Mira Rapp Hooper, director of the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative, which monitors developments in the South China Sea, said analysts have previously identified artillery on at least two of the Chinese land reclamation sites in the Spratly Island chain: Fiery Cross Reef, where an airstrip is under construction, and Gaven Reef. The transparency initiative is a project of the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies
U.S. officials have been watching the rapidly-expanding land reclamation by China, which is estimated to total more than 2,000 acres in the South China Sea. In its annual report on China's military power earlier this month, the Pentagon warned five emerging outposts could be used for surveillance systems, harbors, an airfield and logistical support.
The U.S. has been flying surveillance aircraft in the region, prompting China to file a formal protest after a Navy P-8A Poseidon recently flew over one of the sites.
In the past year, the U.S. has escalated its criticism of China's claim to virtually all of the resource-rich South China Sea, saying it is unsupported by international law. Beijing's expansive claims to the waters and reefs overlap those of the Philippines, Taiwan, Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam.
While the U.S. is not a claimant, it says it has a national interest in a peaceful resolution of the territorial disputes and freedom of navigation. Last June, the U.S. called for a freeze on construction work in disputed areas, but Beijing only increased its land reclamation. In recent months, commercial satellite imagery has put a spotlight on the rapid expansion of artificial islands, mostly located in the Spratlys.
Since early this year, U.S. lawmakers have been raising alarms - displaying pictures of the land reclamation at congressional hearings and calling for a more robust U.S. response to actions that pose a challenge to decades of American predominance in the Asia-Pacific.