China has announced that it will seek to turn some of the disputed islands in the South China Sea into a Maldives-type tourist destination, the state-run China Daily newspaper quoted a top official on Friday as saying.
The paper quoted Xiao Jie, mayor of Sansha, the capital of Woody Island in the Paracel chain, as saying that development would turn certain islands and reefs that "do not need a military presence" into key sites on a "Maritime Silk Road."
"We will develop some islands and reefs to accommodate a select number of tourists," Xiao was quoted as saying.