The Philippines said Friday it will strengthen its military facilities on islands and shoals in the disputed South China Sea and announced initial plans to
MANILA – The Philippines said Friday it will strengthen its military facilities on islands and shoals in the disputed South China Sea and announced initial plans to build a new port and pave an existing rough airstrip.
Defense Minister Delfin Lorenzana had been scheduled to inspect an outpost on Thitu, one of the disputed Spratly Islands, but his trip was cancelled because of “safety issues” and he spent the day instead at a military base where he unveiled the development plans.
“We will build a runway and a port, a pier, for our ships” on Thitu, Lorenzana told troops at the Western Command’s 41st anniversary. “We are a bit blind in that area.”
Thitu is close to Subi Reef, one of seven man made islands in the Spratlys that China is accused of militarizing with surface-to-air missiles and other armaments.
The Philippines has squabbled with China for years over the South China Sea, but relations appear to have improved under President Rodrigo Duterte, who met Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang in Davao City in the southern Philippines on Friday.
