--- description: China has commenced operations at a lighthouse it built on one of the country's controversial artificial islands in the South China Sea title: China Expands South China Sea Presence With New Lighthouse image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb435f4b4127e24d2/69888de8196cf4132903b0e0/rtsdrlk.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # China Expands Its Presence in the South China Sea With a New Lighthouse by [Nash Jenkins](/author/p-nash-jenkins/) ## Nash Jenkins Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 6, 2016 5:55 AM CUT  Subi Reef, located in the disputed Spratly Islands in the South China Sea, is shown in this handout Center for Strategic and International Studies Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative satellite file image taken Aug. 8, 2012, and released to Reuters on Oct. 27, 2015 Subi Reef, located in the disputed Spratly Islands in the South China Sea, is shown in this handout Center for Strategic and International Studies Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative satellite file image taken Aug. 8, 2012, and released to Reuters on Oct. 27, 2015CSIS Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative/Reuters by [Nash Jenkins](/author/p-nash-jenkins/) ## Nash Jenkins Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 6, 2016 5:55 AM CUT China has commenced operations at a lighthouse it built on one of the country’s controversial artificial islands in the South China Sea, Reuters [reports](http://www.reuters.com/article/us-southchinasea-china-idUSKCN0X3048 "undefined"). The structure stands at 180 ft. tall, rising over Subi Reef, once a partly submerged natural landmass that China has artificially expanded to accommodate military operations. Construction of the lighthouse began in October; China’s Transport Ministry held a ceremony to mark its completion on Tuesday. A report from state news network Xinhua, quoted by Reuters, said that the lighthouse will “provide efficient navigation services such as positioning reference, route guidance and navigation safety information to ships, which can improve navigation management and emergency response.” However, the project is also the latest in a series of assertive territorial moves in the South China Sea, which China’s smaller neighbors in the region say have overstepped their maritime sovereignty. Two other Chinese lighthouses are currently under construction in the area. \[[_Reuters_](http://www.reuters.com/article/us-southchinasea-china-idUSKCN0X3048 "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4283217/china-lighthouse-subi-reef-south-china-sea/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4283217/china-lighthouse-subi-reef-south-china-sea/"},"headline":"China Expands Its Presence in the South China Sea With a New Lighthouse","datePublished":"2016-04-06T05:55:37.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T16:29:32.829Z","description":"The project is the latest in a series of assertive territorial moves by Beijing","url":"https://time.com/4283217/china-lighthouse-subi-reef-south-china-sea/","keywords":["China","South China Sea"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb435f4b4127e24d2/69888de8196cf4132903b0e0/rtsdrlk.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Nash Jenkins","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/p-nash-jenkins/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb435f4b4127e24d2/69888de8196cf4132903b0e0/rtsdrlk.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Subi reef, located in the disputed Spratly Islands in the South China Sea, is shown in this file handout CSIS Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative satellite image","caption":"Subi reef, located in the disputed Spratly Islands in the South China Sea, is shown in this file handout CSIS Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative satellite image","creditText":"CSIS Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative/Reuters","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4283217/china-lighthouse-subi-reef-south-china-sea/","name":"China Expands Its Presence in the South China Sea With a New Lighthouse"}}]}] ```