MANILA: Manila expects China to try to build on a reef off the coast of the Philippines, the country’s defence secretary said on Tuesday (Feb 7), adding this would be «unacceptable» in the flashpoint waterway.
In an interview with AFP, Delfin Lorenzana said he believed China would eventually reclaim Scarborough Shoal, just 230 kilometres from the main Philippine island of Luzon.
Beijing has already built up a number of islets and reefs in the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea, installing military facilities on several of them.
Analysts say similar installations on nearby Scarborough Shoal could give China effective military control over the disputed Sea — something the US has said it is not prepared to accept.
«They encroached,» Lorenzana said of a 2012 confrontation that saw Philippine vessels displaced from the shoal. «They occupied three islands there (in the Spratlys) plus they are trying to get Scarborough. So to us that is unacceptable».
«If we allow them, they will build. That’s very, very disturbing. Very much (more) disturbing than Fiery Cross because this is so close to us,» Lorenzana added, referring to one of the Philippine-claimed reefs China has built on.
Because of its position, another military outpost at Scarborough Shoal is seen as the last major physical step required to secure control of the sea.
An outpost there would also put Chinese fighter jets and missiles within easy striking distance of US forces stationed in the Philippines.
