Despite the poor performance, official data reported a 5.9 percent year-over-year growth for March, causing eyebrows to raise among many Chinese netizens.
The Philippines conducted its own landing shortly after on the reef that is just 5 nautical miles from its military outpost on the nearby Thitu Island.
The official report is deliberately vague about whether the influenza virus strain spreading in China is drug-resistant, a U.S. expert on the China CDC said.