Vietnam is on a South China Sea island-building binge that will likely see it soon surpass the area China has reclaimed in the strategic and contested Spratly Islands, according to a new report from the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative.

Since the start of 2025, Hanoi has been dredging and adding surface area to eight features it controls in the island chain in the southeastern quarter of the South China Sea, said the AMTI report, based on satellite imagery from MAXAR and Planet Labs.

The Spratly Island chain consists of more than 100 small islands or reefs and is claimed in full by China, Vietnam and Taiwan with partial claims by the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei, according to the CIA World Factbook.

China’s claims have drawn headlines for more than a decade, as Beijing has re

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