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MANILA, Philippines – China’s largest military transport plane recently landed at Kagitingan Reef (Fiery Cross) in the Western Philippine Sea, giving an idea of what could happen if the Chinese base there becomes fully operational.
A Y-20 transporter of the Air Force of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) was spotted at Kagitingan Reef on December 25, the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post news agency reported last Friday (1 of January).
The satellite images of the Chinese plane’s presence on the reef were published by Ken Joyce, director of product management at the US space technology company Maxar Technologies. The plane was not observed loading or unloading cargo.
The report identified the Y-20 built by Xian Aircraft Industry Corporation as the largest aircraft in China’s military fleet.
Kagitingan Reef was said to be the base of one of the China-named districts in the Western Philippine Sea. This had been protested by the Philippine government.
Maritime expert Professor Jay Batongbacal said the deployment was likely “to test the airfield aircraft / equipment and / or to deliver supplies / personnel.”
While the Kagitingan Reef is the farthest Chinese artificial reef in the Philippines, Batongbacal said an airbase built there by China would become a greater threat once PLA Air Force squadrons become operational and host.
“The naval base has been operational for quite some time and currently supports the Chinese military / paramilitary maritime forces operating in the South China Sea,” he told INQUIRER.net.
“The full operating base would place all major cities / ports / airports / military bases in the Philippines within striking distance of Chinese air power,” he said.
In recent years, China had transformed reefs and islands into equipped outposts and equipped with ports, airstrips, missile shelters and communications facilities that expanded its ability to monitor its activities and those of its rivals in the China Sea. Southern, which Beijing claims to own almost entirely.
The 2016 decision of the United Nations-backed arbitral tribunal in The Hague ruled that Beijing’s claims are baseless and that its frenzy over the construction of the South China Sea was illegal.
TSB
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