SCOOP: Chinese maritime militias have carried out construction activities at four features in the Spratly Islands in the first known instances of a SCS claimant doing so on territory it doesn’t already occupy, say western officials. Latest via @bpolitics

bloomberg.com/news/articles/… New land formations have appeared above water over the past year at Eldad Reef, the sources said. Other images showed physical changes at both Whitsun Reef and Sandy Cay, where previously submerged features now sit permanently above the high-tide line. #SouthChinaSea