Defence chief visits Pag-asa island
MANILA: The Philippine defence secretary and military chief of staff visited a Philippine-occupied island in the South China Sea yesterday to assert the country’s claim to the heartland of a disputed area where China is believed to have added missiles on man-made islands.
The trip led by Defence Secretary Delfin Lorenzana on an air force C130 aircraft to the island Filipinos call Pag-asa will likely infuriate China, which has claimed virtually the entire sea and aggressively tried to fortify its foothold, to the consternation of rival claimant governments and the United States.
President Rodrigo Duterte said China dissuaded him from flying to the island to raise his country’s flag when the Philippines celebrates its Independence Day on June 12.
“Because of our friendship with China and because we value your friendship, I will not go there to raise the Philippine flag,” he said, adding that he might send his son instead.
Lorenzana planned to inspect a dirt runway on the island in the Spratlys chain of islands, reefs and atolls that has been partly eroded.
The government plans to repair the 1.2km-long runway to allow more flights and improve safety. It plans to fortify buildings and eight smaller reefs and atolls occupied by Filipino forces.
Present were Military chief of staff General Eduardo Ano and other military top brass with 40 journalists on a trip that may highlight the territorial disputes a week before Duterte hosts an annual regional summit that is expected to spotlight the conflicts.
Meanwhile, a group of Filipino fishermen accused China’s coast guard of shooting at their vessel in the disputed waters, authorities said yesterday.
Officials said they were investigating the reported attack on the Princess Johann boat, which the crew said occurred near a Chinese-occupied section of the Spratly archipelago on March 27.
“(Princess Johann) was reportedly fired upon seven times by a Chinese speedboat with seven Chinese coast guards on board," a Philippine Coast Guard statement said, adding that there were no casualties.
If confirmed, the incident would be the first hostile episode in nearly a year involving the two countries, which have seen warming relations since Duterte was elected in mid-2016. AP