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Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 26) – A maritime expert believes that China plans to stay on Subi Reef for the long term based on what it is building on the artificial island in the Western Philippine Sea.
Maritime expert Jay Batongbacal said on Friday that satellite photos show that in addition to installing additional radars, China is also building a farm ostensibly to make it more habitable.
“What is remarkable is that they are also setting up some kind of farm or agricultural area, so they will really stay there for the long term. They are making the island habitable even though it is completely artificial,” he told CNN Philippines. .
Satellite images released by the US-based technology firm Simularity showed that China appears to be laying the groundwork for massive construction at Subi Reef, locally known as Zamora Reef, located just 13 nautical miles from the island. of Pag-asa occupied by the Philippines, seat of the municipality. government of Kalayaan under the province of Palawan. The photos were taken between November 6, 2020 and March 7, 2021.
“The volume of change is significant and may indicate the early stages of major construction at Subi Reef,” Simularity said in a 15-page report sent to CNN Philippines on Thursday.
The company noted “possible construction preparation” at at least three sites, while photos from five other areas point to the preparation of agriculture, the repair of the island or the reinforcement of the land.
Batongbacal said these construction activities are an indication that China remains undeterred in pushing forward its claims on Subi Reef, noting that the Duterte administration is still unsuccessful in stopping the raids from Beijing.
“It is really an indication that China is not stopping and nothing the government has done in the past four years has really stopped China or caused China to change its behavior towards us,” he added.
Apart from the Philippines and China, Taiwan and Vietnam also claim Subi Reef. In 2016, the arbitral tribunal in The Hague ruled that Subi Reef is within the territorial sea of the island of Pag-asa, but did not address the question of which country has sovereignty over these areas.
However, he stressed that China’s island building activities on Subi Reef and six other reefs constitute violations of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea or UNCLOS.
This landmark decision invalidates China’s broad claim to the South China Sea. It is considered a victory for the Philippines, as the court also recognized areas within its exclusive economic zone that China is challenging. But Beijing rejects the ruling.
Malacañang said Thursday that President Rodrigo Duterte raised the arbitration victory in a recent meeting with the Chinese ambassador to the Philippines, Huang Xilian, along with the presence of more than 200 Chinese fishing and maritime vessels on the Julian Felipe reef, also known as Whitsun. Reef, in the Western Philippine Sea.
The Department of Foreign Relations sent a diplomatic protest and demanded that China “quickly withdraw” its ships from the country’s EEZ, while the Armed Forces of the Philippines deployed more naval units in the area.
CNN Philippines Senior Digital Producer Eimor Santos contributed to this report.
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