Chinese structure on Mabini Reef likely a military base – Defense chief

Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin said Friday that he is “almost sure” that the Chinese government is building a military base in the disputed Johnson South Reef, locally known as Mabini Reef, which the Philippines claims as part of its territory. “Namo-monitor natin yan. Nag umpisa yan (China's construction in Mabini Reef) February. Meron tayong monitoring na unti-unti dumadami yung mga gamit nila,” Gazmin said in an interview aired on GMA News' “24 Oras” Friday evening. “As you probably have seen dun sa mga litrato, nagco-conduct sila ng reclamation –for whatever purpose, we still do not know. But we are almost sure that would be a base,” he said. On Thursday, the Department of Foreign Affairs released a series of photographs, which it said it obtained from intelligence sources, showing China's reclamation works in Mabini Reef from March 13, 2012 to March 11, 2014. The DFA said it sent a note verbale to Beijing last month to protest China's contruction activities in the disputed reef but that China rejected the protest insisting that Johnson Reef is a Chinese territory. Other than the Philippines and China, Mabini Reef is also being claimed by Vietnam. Philippine Navy photos shown to GMA News show that the three-storey structure that China has recently built in Mabini Reef has anti-aircraft artillery, machine guns, closed-circuit television and long-range dish antennas. Foreign Affairs spokesman Charles Jose earlier said that China seemed to be building an airstrip on Mabini Reef, which the Philippines claims as part of its Kalayaan Island Group (KIG). In a separate interview, Jay Batongbacal, director of the University of the Philippines Institute for Maritime Affairs and Law of the Sea, concurred that it is highly possible that China is building an airstrip as Mabini Reef can be a strategic location for patrol activities. Batongbacal said that if China can set up an airbase on Mabini Reef, it can carry out round-the-clock patrols and monitor the activities of other countries that have structures in the disputed area. “Kung magiging full-blown na military base yung Johnson Reef, then, puwede silang magtalaga na dyan ng fighter aircraft, malalaking cargo planes –all the advantages that would be given by a full-blown military base,” Batongbacal said. “So hindi na sila defensive mode kung baga. Medyo ito na siguro yung manifestation nung long-range plan nila na eventually mag-expand nang mag-expand yung control nila in the area at eventually mapaalis nila lahat yung mga bansa doon,” he added. — Elizabeth Marcelo/JDS, GMA News