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    HomeAsiaChinese Expert Refutes Kyodo News Citing Him as Proof of Rumored Pratas...

    Chinese Expert Refutes Kyodo News Citing Him as Proof of Rumored Pratas Islands Invasion Drill

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    A Chinese expert has spoken out, aiming to refute what he says is a misinterpretation of his statements. Earlier this week, a report in Japanese media citing his work was used to give credence to rumors of a provocative Chinese military drill.

    On Monday, Japan's Kyodo News Agency published a story in which it claimed China was “expected to carry out a large-scale landing drill aimed at seizing the -controlled Pratas Islands in the South China Sea in August.”

    However, the Chinese expert Kyodo cited, Li Daguang, a professor at the National Defense University of the People's Liberation (), has now said the paper took his statements out of context. Li told the Global Times later on Monday that the paper of his that Kyodo cited, which was published in the August issue of the Hong Kong-based Bauhinia Magazine, made no claims of certainty about the ostensible drill.

    As of August 6, no Chinese official has either confirmed or denied whether the rumored drills will take place or have ever been considered.

    The Pratas Islands are actually just one above-sea-level island, with two coral reefs and two banks that are part of the same formation. They are about 170 miles southeast of China's Hong Kong and 275 miles south of Taiwan's Kaohsiung, in the South China Sea. The island has no permanent residents and is just big enough for a small airfield. 

    However, it lies along key sea lanes connecting the South China Sea to the East China Sea and…

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