Palace may not, but DND knows about China expansion

West Philippine Sea Task Force, think tank watch Chinese improvements

MANILA, Philippines — Was the Philippine government really unaware of where China has been expanding in the disputed South China Sea as claimed by Malacañang?

The Philippines claims parts of the South China Sea within its exclusive economic zone and calls it the West Philippine Sea.

Last week, Chinese state-run newspaper Global Times carried a report by China’s National Marine Data and Information Service saying that Beijing this year has “reasonably expanded” the area covered by its man-made islands.

The expansion work in the contested sea were made to enhance China’s military capability “within its sovereign scope” and to “help locals,” the report said.

Global Times said the construction projects there, including radar facilities, covered about 290,000 square meters — a number that was similar to one provided by US think tank Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative last December 14.

Responding to China’s reported expansion activities, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque told reporters in a text message on December 25 that the government “[doesn’t] know where these works are.”

“We continue to rely on China’s good faith,” Roque added.

Defense department aware of reclamation

However, Philippine Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana had a different response.

Asked if security officials were aware of the locations of Beijing’s enhancement activities on its artificial islands, Lorenzana, in an interview with Philstar.com, said: “Of course! We have known where they reclaimed and what improvements they have been doing.”

In its December 14 report, AMTI identified all permanent facilities that can be used for military purposes that China completed or began work since the start of the year.

READ: Analyst: China continues expansion in South China Sea as int'l focus 'shifts away'

AMTI added that Beijing “remains committed” to advancing the next phase of its activities in the sea, including construction of infrastructure necessary for fully-functioning air and naval bases on larger outposts.

Fiery Cross (Kagitingan) saw the “most construction” in 2017, the think tank said, with China’s installation of a high frequency radar array at the north end of the island in the last several months, in addition to previous work done there.

According to Lorenzana, the Philippine government has a “West Philippine Sea Task Force” that monitors the developments in the disputed waters.

Although China, as far as the Philippines is concerned, has not occupied new features in the sea, Lorenzana said the Asian power “just continues to build what they have reclaimed.”

“The latest report was that the Chinese continue to improve their reclaimed islands — two are within our EEZ (exclusive economic zone) and one in the Kalayaan Island Group,” Lorenzana told Philstar.com.

Ties between Manila and Beijing had soured after the Philippines filed a case, and won, in a United Nations-backed tribunal against China’s sweeping claims over the South China Sea.

The court said in 2016 that China violated the Philippines’ sovereign rights by blocking fishing and oil exploration as well as by building reclaimed islands there.

But Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has set aside the tribunal’s verdict in exchange for warmer ties and billion dollars’ worth of Chinese investments.

Last month, Duterte said he remains optimistic that China will stop new occupations in South China Sea under a deal supposedly brokered by both sides.

However, the continuing activities in the disputed waters claimed by the Philippines persisted while China is engaging with its Southeast Asian neighbors on the framing of a binding code of conduct to hopefully manage the maritime row.

‘Not acceptable’ not to know

For Jay Batongbacal, law professor at the University of the Philippines and director of the university’s Maritime Affairs and Law, it is "not acceptable" for the Philippines to be unaware of China’s activities in the South China Sea given the “availability of information.”

He said lack of knowledge on the developments in the sea can only be due to either failure to conduct regular military observation or “deliberate” inattention to the country’s areas under its own jurisdiction.

"The Philippines should know, at the very least, whether or not any such activities are taking place within the West Philippine Sea, especially Subi Reef which is within sight Pag-asa Island, and Mischief Reef which is even closer to Palawan," Batongbacal told Philstar.com.

"This is even more serious given the availability of information from entities other than our own," he added.

Batongbacal also warned about relying on China’s “good faith,” saying that such a position “marks a dangerous and naïve approach to maritime security in the West Philippine Sea.”

“Good faith should be cross-checked by vigilance,” he said.

‘Many ways to validate’

Meanwhile, Rep. Gary Alejano (Magdalo party-list) said the Philippines has "so many ways" to validate China’s construction works in the South China Sea.

“We have our allies who have the capability to track movements in the South China Sea. It is just that we opt not to avail it because Duterte has no plans of protesting,” Alejano told Philstar.com.

“We ceased conducting naval and coast guard patrols at West Philippine Sea. We ceased conducting aerial patrol except once a month in Scarborough shoal,” he added.

“We did not push through with planned constructions in our occupied islands because China warned us. In short, we became subservient to what China wants.”

READ: Duterte stops building of fishers' shelters on disputed reef