NSC weighs in on China floating nuclear reactors

MANILA, Philippines — It will be a threat to Philippine national security if China pushes through with its reported plan to use floating nuclear power plants in the South China Sea, a national security official said yesterday.

National Security Council assistant director general Jonathan Malaya, in an interview with “Storycon” on One News, said the nuclear power plants – if installed – would be used to power military bases located on artificial islands that China built, including those within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone.

The reported plan is something the Philippines dreads as it would further militarize the artificial islands, he added.

“These militarized features in the West Philippine Sea are actually artificial islands and some of them are within the exclusive economic zone of the Philippines… It is not in our interest that they are doing this. They are, in effect, further militarizing the islands,” Malaya said.

“These features are primarily military bases. Anything that supports their military presence in those islands is technically a threat to our national security and against our interests,” he added.

Last week, the Washington Post reported about China’s plan to use floating nuclear reactors to power the military bases it built on reclaimed lands.

It cited the concern raised by US Indo-Pacific Command Adm. John Aquilino, who retired from the US Navy last Friday, and an unidentified senior official from the US State Department.

“China’s intended use of floating nuclear power plants has potential impacts to all nations in the region,” Aquilino was quoted as saying in the Washington Post report.

“Chinese state media has stated publicly Beijing’s intent to use them to strengthen its military control of the South China Sea, further exerting their unlawful territorial claims. China’s claim of sovereignty of the entire South China Sea has no basis in international law and is destabilizing the entire region,” he added.

China has not responded to the report, although it was reported last year that it had supposedly suspended its plan to build floating nuclear reactors.

Also in the interview, Malaya said China should not see the Philippines’ activities as provocation, noting that the Balikatan exercises are a way for the country’s military to improve its capabilities.

He also confirmed plans of the Philippines and the US, along with countries such as Australia, to conduct joint patrols in the South China Sea.

“That is already a given,” he said.

A joint resupply mission to Ayungin Shoal, however, is a different matter, noting that bringing in a foreign military to undertake a Philippine operation may be seen as “escalating the ante.”

“That’s under discussion by both parties,” said Malaya, noting that the current resupply missions are undertaken “100 percent” by the Philippines.