China unveiled a military strategy on Tuesday to project naval power further from its own shores and announced plans for two lighthouses on reefs in the South China Sea, moves likely to increase tensions with Washington and regional powers over the disputed waters.



A white paper issued by China’s state council, or cabinet, said the navy will shift from a policy of defending offshore waters to a combined goal of “offshore waters defence and open seas protection”.

Several regional powers including the Philippines and Vietnam have overlapping claims in the South China Sea, one of the world’s busiest shipping routes.

The high seas were one of four “critical security domains” highlighted in the paper, the others being outer space, cyberspace and nuclear force, although the white paper underlined that China wants to avoid a nuclear arms race or the weaponisation of space.

In the more immediate naval sphere, however, Beijing appears more assertive. The paper also warned distant powers against “provocative” actions and interference in South China Sea affairs, an apparent reference to Washington’s very publicly-aired concerns about a large-scale Chinese land reclamation project around mostly uninhabited reefs and atolls in the disputed waters.

The Chinese works are turning submerged reefs into airstrips, and creating thousands of hectares of dry land on artificial islands, with the pace of construction speeding up in recent months.



China’s defense ministry spokesman Yang Yujun holds up a report on China’s military strategy unveiled on Tuesday: China has compared its controversial island-building to ordinary infrastructure construction going on elsewhere in the country. Photograph: Andy Wong/AP

One of the biggest US concerns is land reclamation on reef formations that would not otherwise allow China to claim territorial waters because they are submerged at high tide and not capable of supporting independent life.



Xinhua on Tuesday published pictures of lighthouse construction on two coral reefs, Chigua and Huayang, showing a groundbreaking ceremony that was perhaps more likely to involve ground creation.



“The ministry of transport plans to construct two multi-functional lighthouses, which will provide efficient navigation service to the passing vessels and immensely improve the navigation safety in the South China Sea,” Xinhua said in a report.

Plans to ramp up the US military presence in the area would probably involve flying over and sailing close to artificial islands that were only reefs before the latest building project, and China last week issued multiple warnings to a US plane flying above Fiery Cross reef, where China has built an early-warning radar station and airstrip.



Defence ministry spokesman Yang Yujun said that the country’s reclamation activities were comparable with development of homes, roads and other infrastructure on the mainland.



The Philippine navy’s second world war-vintage warship BRP Rajah Humabon at anchor: the Philippine navy is one of the weakest in the region, but the government has been modernising its armed forces in the face of China’s expansion in the South China Sea. Photograph: Ted Aljibe/AFP/Getty Images

“From the perspective of sovereignty, there is absolutely no difference,” Yan told a news conference to launch the new military white paper. Some countries with “ulterior motives” had unfairly characterized China’s military presence and sensationalised the issue, Reuters reported.



The dispute has pushed together regional powers who a few years ago might have been as wary of neighbours with claims on the islands as they were of Beijing.



The Philippines have backed the US, and President Benigno Aquinosaid this week that they will continue to fly over the disputed areas despite Chinese warnings.



“We will still fly the routes that we fly based on the international law from the various conventions we entered into,” the AFP news agency quoted him saying.



The country’s defence minister also said he would ask for more defence equipment from Tokyo, the same day that Japan also agreed to bolster security and maritime safety ties with Malaysia and start talks on transfers of defence equipment and technology.