Thitu Island, Pag-asa, Kalayaan, Spratly Islands
Update: May 31, 2025
There have been some engagements near Thitu Island on the three sand cays located west of this occupied Philippine civilian outpost (with schools, permanent civilian population, and an airport). Those cays have seen landings in mid 2025 by both the Chinese Coast Guard (to pick up trash and find illegal activity), and by the Philippine government agencies (multiple) to ensure nobody is doing any funny business on those sand spits.
Thitu Island continues to look like a fishing outpost with limited investment in infrastructure. This is not a militarized island in the modern sense (from what we can see in satellite imagery).
Google Earth has imagery from 6/19/2023.
There have been some engagements near Thitu Island on the three sand cays located west of this occupied Philippine civilian outpost (with schools, permanent civilian population, and an airport). Those cays have seen landings in mid 2025 by both the Chinese Coast Guard (to pick up trash and find illegal activity), and by the Philippine government agencies (multiple) to ensure nobody is doing any funny business on those sand spits.
Thitu Island continues to look like a fishing outpost with limited investment in infrastructure. This is not a militarized island in the modern sense (from what we can see in satellite imagery).
Google Earth has imagery from 6/19/2023.
Updated August 29, 2024
Thitu Island, Pag-Asa island, Philippines
Thitu Island, a.k.a., Pag-Asa Island, a.k.a., Kalayaan Island is a naturally occurring island that has been developed and occupied by the Philippines. It appears to be their primary outpost in the Spratly Islands. It has a permanent civilian population, including a school and airport (Rancudo Airfield), and a large harbor, and a lighthouse for navigation. There are civilian infrastructure present on the island, including an elementary school (source Maxar Xpress).
The island is west of Loaita Bank, and only 14.4 miles east of Subi Reef, a PRC military island.
We added to our analysis with the Copernicus Browser, eESA, Sentinel-2 L2A satellite imagery from 7/31/2024. We do see many boats within the entire atoll structure, approximately 21 are clearly visible from satellite.
Thitu Island, Pag-Asa island, Philippines
Thitu Island, a.k.a., Pag-Asa Island, a.k.a., Kalayaan Island is a naturally occurring island that has been developed and occupied by the Philippines. It appears to be their primary outpost in the Spratly Islands. It has a permanent civilian population, including a school and airport (Rancudo Airfield), and a large harbor, and a lighthouse for navigation. There are civilian infrastructure present on the island, including an elementary school (source Maxar Xpress).
The island is west of Loaita Bank, and only 14.4 miles east of Subi Reef, a PRC military island.
We added to our analysis with the Copernicus Browser, eESA, Sentinel-2 L2A satellite imagery from 7/31/2024. We do see many boats within the entire atoll structure, approximately 21 are clearly visible from satellite.
Thitu island is 0.83 miles in diameter, and has a 0.65 mile runway, but no visible aircraft hangers or maintenance facilities. The east of the island has local housing. The north is a protected bay. There are sections still under construction with reclamation hardware apparent. There are few signs of military infrastructure on the island, and there are no tall buildings or obvious military installations.
The three early-stage reclamations to the West of Thitu Island indicate future plans for reclamation work. We see three visible reclamations (sand only) to the West of Thitu Island, and ships in the lagoon. Satellite Imagery date: 6/19/2023 Location: 11°04'27"N 114°13’27"E. We took a second reading of the location: 11°03'08"N 114°16'56"E
Eastern Reef is to the East of Thitu Reef, and is underwater and has no apparent man-made reclamations.
According to Reuters on December 21, 2023:
"MARCH 4 - The Philippines spots a Chinese navy ship and 42 vessels believed to be manned by Chinese maritime militia personnel in the vicinity of Thitu island, Manila's biggest and most strategically important outpost in the South China Sea."
OCT 16 - The Philippine military says a Chinese navy ship shadowed and attempted to cut off a Philippine navy vessel conducting a resupply mission near Thitu island.
The three early-stage reclamations to the West of Thitu Island indicate future plans for reclamation work. We see three visible reclamations (sand only) to the West of Thitu Island, and ships in the lagoon. Satellite Imagery date: 6/19/2023 Location: 11°04'27"N 114°13’27"E. We took a second reading of the location: 11°03'08"N 114°16'56"E
Eastern Reef is to the East of Thitu Reef, and is underwater and has no apparent man-made reclamations.
According to Reuters on December 21, 2023:
"MARCH 4 - The Philippines spots a Chinese navy ship and 42 vessels believed to be manned by Chinese maritime militia personnel in the vicinity of Thitu island, Manila's biggest and most strategically important outpost in the South China Sea."
OCT 16 - The Philippine military says a Chinese navy ship shadowed and attempted to cut off a Philippine navy vessel conducting a resupply mission near Thitu island.
Thitu Island, Sentinel-2 L2A, True Color. The island where time stood still. Not many changes from 2023 or earlier.
Thitu Island, 6/19/2023 Google Earth. Camera 1,878 m, 5 m. Full Island View. 2D.
The western edge has a protected bay and what appears to be more recent reclamation. On the southeast edge, starting just north of the runway, we see defensive shapes . We also see a chaotic housing situation that looks like a fishing village.
We see a ship on the Western edge docked at a small rectangular port (pointed in and tied down).
We see a ship on the Western edge docked at a small rectangular port (pointed in and tied down).
Below we see a little new construction just north of the center of the runway where there is a small area to turn aircraft. We see a dirt track for vehicles, open ground, and limited construction.
Pag-Asa Cays 1, 2, and 3 are the Philippine naming of the small sand spits or cays in the same atoll coral reef structure as Pag-ASA or Thitu Island. Recently around May 20, 2025, the Chinese Coast Guard vessel 21559, confronted a Philippine Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources vessel BRP Datu Sanday (MMOV 3002) that was collecting sand samples at those cays. It is accused of firing water cannons at the Philippine ship and side-swiping it, causing damage to the vessel.
This is after a pair of landings at the Pag-ASA cays to demonstrate sovereignty by first China, then the Philippines recently. These are still just sandy cays without man-made structures. It looks like you could walk across the largest cay in about 5 minutes or less.
China declared operational control over Sandy Cay 2, or Pag-ASA 2, or Tiexian Reef, in mid-April 2025.
Source: Al Jazeera May 22, 2025.
This is after a pair of landings at the Pag-ASA cays to demonstrate sovereignty by first China, then the Philippines recently. These are still just sandy cays without man-made structures. It looks like you could walk across the largest cay in about 5 minutes or less.
China declared operational control over Sandy Cay 2, or Pag-ASA 2, or Tiexian Reef, in mid-April 2025.
Source: Al Jazeera May 22, 2025.
Area
Name 1
Nearest Land
Distance from Land (miles)
Location (latitude & longitude)
Diameter (miles)
Date of Satellite Imagery
Airport Present?
Helipad Present?
Port / Dock Facility Present?
Buildings Present?
Defensive Infrastructure Present?
Athletic Facilities Present?
Hospital Present?
Sand Only Island?
Dredging Infrastructure Only?
Spratly Islands
Thitu Reef
Philippines and Vietnam
314 and 318
11°04'27"N 114°13’27"E
0.83
6/19/2023
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
No
No
No
Name 1
Nearest Land
Distance from Land (miles)
Location (latitude & longitude)
Diameter (miles)
Date of Satellite Imagery
Airport Present?
Helipad Present?
Port / Dock Facility Present?
Buildings Present?
Defensive Infrastructure Present?
Athletic Facilities Present?
Hospital Present?
Sand Only Island?
Dredging Infrastructure Only?
Spratly Islands
Thitu Reef
Philippines and Vietnam
314 and 318
11°04'27"N 114°13’27"E
0.83
6/19/2023
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
No
No
No
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