BEIJING — The Chinese government appeared to confirm on Thursday that it had begun placing antiaircraft guns and other defenses on the disputed Spratly Islands in the South China Sea, despite earlier promises that it would not militarize the islands.







![China: The vanguard of globalisation Workers assemble mobile phones on a product line at a factory in Sichuan Province, China [Getty]](https://i0.wp.com/www.aljazeera.com/mritems/imagecache/mbdxxlarge/mritems/Images/2016/12/11/1ee213531fd04a5eb37a90502181dd06_18.jpg)

Crowds waved ‘We Are Indonesia’ signs and held a giant red-and-white national flag [Reute