China building huge test site for unmanned ships

BEIJING – China has started building the world's largest test site for unmanned ships -- a technology with both civilian and military applications -- off a port in the disputed South China Sea, state media has reported. The test area is being constructed off the southern port city of Zhuhai bordering Macau, China's official Xinhua News Agency said Tuesday. China asserts sovereignty over almost all the South China Sea despite competing partial claims from the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei, and has reclaimed several islands which it controls to bolster its claims. Unmanned or "autonomous" ship technology, still in its infancy, would allow both civilian and military craft to be remotely controlled. It could revolutionize the shipping industry by creating more cargo space on unmanned ships, which would also save huge sums in labor costs.