Govt warns Beijing against ‘militarisation’ of disputed island

The Philippines is preparing to file a diplomatic protest against China if it can prove that there is ongoing “militarisation” in one of the disputed territories, Defence Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said yesterday.
In a press conference here after the turnover ceremony of the Philippine Army’s Special Operations Command (SOCOM), Lorenzana said the Chinese government had committed not to militarise any of the reclaimed islands, among them the Kagitingan (Fiery Cross) Reef where aerial photos showed the Chinese military building a 3.125-metre runway.
“Our stand here is that we will register our protest through the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) because I know for a fact that the Chinese government said sometime ago that it was not going to militarise those reclaimed islands,” Lorenzana told reporters.
Lorenzana said Beijing downplayed the alleged “militarisation” over Kagitingan Reef and said that the infrastructure was for “peaceful purposes” such as tourism. “But if it is true that we can prove that they have been putting soldiers in there and even any weapons that would heighten their defensives there…that will be a violation of what they said,” Lorenzana said when sought for his reaction.
A report on Chinese Central Television, which Hong Kong-based Asia Times published, said the reef was now equipped with a hospital and military installations such as warning radars and close-proximity weapons system.
 China Mobile and China Unicorn, according to the same report, also have separate base stations at Kagitingan Reef providing 4.5G communications to more than 200 soldiers from the People’s Liberation Army stationed in the island.
Kagitingan Reef is located at the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea) and is within the vicinity of the Kalayaan Group of Islands (Spratly), which is near Palawan. Lorenzana said that the Philippine government has a Task Force focusing on the West Philippine Sea headed by National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr.
The Defence chief added that Esperon’s team was also in-charge of co-ordinating with the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) over issues involving the West Philippine Sea.
At the same time, Lorenzana said that the Philippine government has been receiving reports of alleged harassment by the Chinese coast guard against Filipino fishermen although no official protest has been filed.