China turns on lighthouses on disputed Spratly Island reefs for 'navigational safety' amid South China Sea tensions

China has started operating two lighthouses on a reef on the disputed Spratly Islands in the South China Sea - stressing the move is out of concern for civilian safety - even as the United States continues to consider sending its warships close to China's artificial islands in the region.

The 50-metre-tall Huayang and Chigua lighthouses on Huayang Reef would improve navigational safety for ships, foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said.

The structures would address a severe shortage in navigational aids and maritime emergency and oil-spill response forces that had "immensely hindered the navigational safety and economic and social development" in the South China Sea, Xinhua reported yesterday.

Beijing would "continue to build other civil facilities on occupied island reefs in the Nansha Islands", Hua said, using the Chinese name for the Spratlys.

The activation of the lighthouses comes days after news that Washington was mulling sending ships within the next two weeks to waters inside the 12-nautical-mile zone that Beijing claims as territory around islands built in the Spratly chain.