The Philippine Coast Guard station on Thitu (Pag-asa) Island, the largest Philippine-occupied feature in the Spratly Islands. Credit: Philippine Coast Guard
Published January 15, 2024
Desalination machines and communications upgrades are slated for the nine features that Manila occupies in the contested waterway.
The Philippines plans to upgrade the features that it occupies in the South China Sea in order to make them more habitable for troops, the country’s military chief said yesterday, at a time of heightened tension with China over clashing maritime claims.
Speaking to reporters, after attending a command conference led by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. at the military headquarters, Romeo Brawner said that the country would develop the nine “islands and other features” that it held, Reuters reported.
These include Thitu Island, the most strategically important feature in what Manila terms the Kalayaan Island Group, which lies around 480 kilometers from Palawan island. Another is Second Thomas Shoal, around 225 kilometers closer to Palawan, which has been the subject of a loose Chinese blockade for much of the past year.
“We’d like to improve all the nine, especially the islands we are occupying,” Brawner said. “We are just trying to make it more livable, more habitable for our soldiers because they really have poor living conditions.”
Brawner said that the government hoped to install desalination machines and communications equipment on Thitu Island and Nanshan Island. Thitu, known to Manila as Pag-asa, is the largest Philippine-occupied feature in the South China Sea, boasting an airstrip and landing dock, and supporting a population of around 200. A handful of Philippine soldiers and their families are stationed on Nanshan or Lawak Island. All nine Philippine-occupied outposts exist in a precarious umbilical relationship to the Philippine mainland, reliant on regular navy supply missions and acutely vulnerable to blockade by Chinese vessels.
Most notably, Brawner said that the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) also hopes to deliver a desalination machine for the small group of troops living aboard the MRP Sierra Madre, a warship that the Philippines deliberately grounded on Second Thomas Shoal in 1999 in order to assert its claim over the feature.
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SOURCE: www.thediplomat.com
RELATED: Philippines to develop islands in South China Sea: Military chief
FILE PHOTO: Armed Forces of the Philippines Chief of Staff General Romeo Brawner Jr speaks to the media during a press briefing at Western Command in Puerto Princesa, Palawan, Philippines, on Aug 10, 2023. (Photo: REUTERS/Eloisa Lopez)
Published January 15, 2024
MANILA: The Philippines will develop islands in the South China Sea that it considers part of its territory to make them more habitable for troops, Manila’s military chief Romeo Brawner told reporters on Monday (Jan 15).
The plans come amid heightened tensions between the Philippines and China, both of whom claim territory in the South China Sea and have traded accusations of aggressive behaviour in the strategic waterway.
Manila and Beijing have a long history of maritime territorial disputes in the waterway, but relations sharply deteriorated recently over a series of incidents involving vessels from both countries.
Apart from the Second Thomas Shoal, locally known as Ayungin, the Philippines occupies eight other features in the South China Sea, and considers them part of its exclusive economic zone.
“We’d like to improve all the nine, especially the islands we are occupying,” Brawner said after attending a command conference led by Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr at the military headquarters.
The features include Thitu island, the biggest and most strategically important in the South China Sea. Known locally as Pag-asa, Thitu lies about 480km west of the Philippine province of Palawan.
The military wants to bring a desalination machine for troops living aboard a warship that the Philippines deliberately grounded on Second Thomas Shoal in 1999 to assert its sovereignty claim, he said.
Brawner said Thitu and Nanshan islands were among those where facilities would be improved with the installation of desalination machines and communications equipment.
“We are just trying to make it more liveable, more habitable for our soldiers because they really have poor living conditions,” he told reporters.
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SOURCE: www.channelnewsasia.com
RELATED: Beijing hits out at German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock’s ‘unwarranted’ attack on its actions in South China Sea dispute with Philippines
- Baerbock said during a visit to the Philippines that Beijing was violating Manila’s ‘rights and economic development opportunities’ in the disputed waters
- But China’s embassy in Manila said it was not to blame for recent clashes and said foreign countries should stay out of the dispute
Published January 13, 2024
It also said: “No non-regional country has the right to interfere in the maritime disputes between China and the Philippines.”
The statement added that China should not be blamed for recent incidents and is “committed to properly handling disputes with the Philippines through dialogue and consultation with the aim of jointly maintaining peace and stability in the South China Sea”.
It also said: “No non-regional country has the right to interfere in the maritime disputes between China and the Philippines.”
During Baerbock’s recent visit to the Philippines – the first by a German foreign minister in about a decade – she said China was threatening freedom of navigation in the disputed waters and the dispute was a matter of concern for Germany and other European countries.
In recent months there have been repeated face-offs between Chinese and Philippine ships in the South China Sea, including several collisions that each side blamed on the other.
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SOURCE: www.scmp.com
