Philippines Seeking Defence Ties With India After China's Moves

A military base on Mabini Reef, located 600 km from the Chinese mainland where it has a military base on Hainan Island, would give China a naval-air force base strategically located in the middle of the sea.

China began its moves to occupy reefs in the disputed sea right from 1995 when it built structures on Mischief Reef, which is 230 km from Palawan in the Philippines, while in 2012 it occupied Scarborough Shoal, a coral reef off the coast of Zambales in Luzon province, said the official.

These reefs and islets are part of Philippines "territorial entitlement", according to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), 1982, to which China too is a signatory.

Manila has filed an arbitration petition before the International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) over China's violation of the UNCLOS provisions, said Jose.

The Philippines is seeking to establish defence cooperation with allies, and it would be holding joint defence commission meetings later this year with India, he said. "Defence issues would be discussed, including exchange of training," he said.

He said the Philippines "welcomes the intervention by third parties who can help to bring stability to the region".

He said the Philippines was keen to schedule a visit by President Pranab Mukherjee to the island nation this year, but last-minute "scheduling problems" caused the visit to be put off for next year.

Jose said the Philippines is also full of praise for the way in which India and Bangladesh settled their maritime boundary dispute, with a UN tribunal in July this year announcing its verdict.
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