China expands in West Philippine Sea, Philippines relies on 'good faith'

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine continues to rely on Beijing's "good faith" after a Chinese government report said that it "reasonably" expanded its islands in the disputed West Philippine Sea.

Harry Roque, spokesperson for President Rodrigo Duterte, said that the Philippine government did not know yet where the supposed construction activities took place and Manila would continue to rely on China's word.

"Location is material since we do not have claims on all the islands and waters in the disputed area," Roque said in a text message to reporters.

Reuters news agency reported Monday that China's National Marine Data and Information said that the government has "reasonably" expanded the area covered by its islands and enhanced its military presence in the disputed South China Sea.

Apart from a "large radar," China also constructed facilities for underground storage and administrative buildings, according to Reuters.

The report largely reinforced the warning by an American think tank that provided satellite imagery demonstrating China's unceasing construction activities on its artificial islands in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea).

The Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative identified permanent facilities that were completed or started at the beginning of 2017 which China could use for military purposes.

The report also concluded that Beijing "remains committed" to moving to the next phase of its activities in the area such as the construction of facilities needed for fully-functioning air and naval bases.

Last year, a United Nations-backed tribunal invalidated China's claims over the waters based on their so-called historical rights. However, Beijing has refused to recognize the ruling and continued with its building activities.

Early this month, Alan Cayetano, the Philippine foreign secretary, downplayed AMTI's report and defended that China had not occupied any new features in the disputed waters. He also noted that China was not the only government having activities in the area.

During a regional meeting of foreign ministers in Manila in August, Cayetano said he did not want China's reclamation activities in the waters to be included in his chairman's statement since this was not reflective of the situation on the ground.

The Philippines under Duterte has tried to forge closer and warmer ties to Beijing in an effort to attract Chinese money into the developing nation's economy and infrastructure market. This warmer bilateral relationship was in contrast to the frosty relations between the two nations under former President Benigno Aquino III who took China to the UN-backed tribunal following a naval standoff between Manila and Beijing years ago.

Aside from the Philippines and China, Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam have rival claims over the waters through which $5 trillion worth of trade passes annually.