China trying another territorial land grab? Satellite images show Beijing erecting structure in disputed Yellow Sea

China has again raked up territorial controversy by using a series of steel structures to lay claim to a disputed area of the Yellow Sea. The claim has been made by South Korea, which according to Daily Mail is considering setting up countermeasures to three Chinese installations erected off the west coast of the Korean Peninsula.

Seoul on Thursday raised the matter with Beijing over the gigantic structure being constructed in an area where the two nations’ exclusive economic zones overlap.

South Korea is of the belief that the move by China is an attempt to expand its waters using tactics it used a decade ago in the South China Sea.

Beijing has, however, dismissed the claims made by Seoul and said the structure is a fish farm support facility that has nothing to do with territorial rights.

According to the Daily Mail, installation of the sea rig in an area where the exclusive economic zones of the two nations overlap can be seen in satellite images. The structure located near the other Chinese facilities Shenlan-1 and Shenlan-2 platforms is said to be an old French oil rig with a helicopter landing pad.

The Yellow Sea in which the structure is built serves as a vital corridor for trade, fisheries and military navigation. Under an agreement signed in 2001, only fishing boats are permitted to operate in the disputed area where the structure has come up.

Exclusive: Satellites Show Chinese Moves Against US Ally

New satellite imagery has revealed for the first time a hulking steel rig in the Yellow Sea between China and South Korea that has inflamed tensions between the two nations.

The photographs, supplied exclusively to… pic.twitter.com/ankbUjTbCr

The rig almost the size of a football pitch was reportedly discovered after South Korean media reported a standoff between Korean vessels investigating the structure, and the Chinese coast guard, reported The Telegraph.

According to the South Korean foreign minister Cho Tae-yul, Seoul is considering installing a similar facility in order to own territorial claims.