At a forum in the Philippines recently, Bautista said the Philippines should predict that China will gain control of some of the important Philippine sea lanes if there is a war between the United States and China, according to the report. South China morning post 30th of October. He said the Philippines’ strategic position along with the sea lanes connecting the South China Sea and the Pacific made the country “important terrain.”
He identified those sea routes, including the Ba Si Strait, located between the Philippines and Taiwan, and the Mindoro, Cebu, Balabac, San Bernardino, and Surigao Straits in the Philippine archipelago. “If you want to control the South China Sea, you need to control these narrow places,” Bautista said.
[VIDEO] Two US carriers exercise in the South China Sea, showing strength against China
|
Although China has vowed not to start the war amid escalating tensions with the United States, Bautista warned China of increasingly aggressive actions in the South China Sea and its border areas with India. He argues that sovereignty disputes in the Indo-Pacific are hot spots that could spark a confrontation between the United States and China.
“Suppose [mọi việc] lose control and lead to war… China will occupy the Philippines ”, speculated Mr. Bautista. According to Mr. Bautista, China has been carrying out activities to get closer to the Philippines through the acquisition or construction of ports and airports.
Retired General Bautista said that during a possible war, the United States and China would seek to control the Philippines. The United States currently has a defense treaty with the Philippines, which means that if the Philippines is attacked, the United States will intervene. China can launch missiles and deploy fighter jets to the Philippines from the realities that China has built on illegal artificial islands in the South China Sea, according to Bautista.
China has compensated for the illegal construction of the Vanh Khan rock in the Spratly archipelago under Vietnamese sovereignty
|
Similarly, Dr Swee Lean Collin Koh (defense expert from S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Singapore) also said that if a confrontation occurs, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) will have to control a several important shipping routes, especially the Ba Si Strait.
According to Mr. Koh, the PLA currently has a base near the Philippines, the Vanh Vai Rock, located in the Spratlys archipelago under Vietnamese sovereignty, but was illegally occupied by China and increased as an artificial island. “In fact, China is controlling the Scarborough Shoal, which is close to the strategic Subic Bay and in case of conflict … this entity can be fully occupied like the current Vanh Khan,” commented Mr. Koh. , according to the South China morning post. China gained control of Scarborough Shoal from the Philippines after a ship collision between the two parties in 2012.
Once a base is established in Scarborough, Koh said, “the PLA would easily make military choices, especially waging an asymmetric war against American submarines coming from Guam while supporting PLA naval equipment, such as submarines, that traverse the Strait of Ba Yes to the Philippine Sea, where the PLA will meet American troops.
