A tiny island in the South China Sea symbolizes the struggle — and disparity — in the Philippines’ efforts to assert its rights in disputed waters when compared with China, which claims much of the sea.
Manila is rushing to develop 33-hectare Thitu Island (Jhongye Island, 中業島), with the government planning to pour in billions of pesos to upgrade it.
More than 200 civilians and military personnel reside on the island, but just 27km southwest of it China has built a fully functioning military base on Subi Reef (Jhubi Reef, 渚碧礁) that is estimated to be 12 times the size of Thitu Island.
Photo: AFP
That base is just one of Beijing’s 27 outposts in the South China Sea equipped with ports, runways and other infrastructure aimed at asserting its sweeping claims in the key waterway. In contrast, Manila occupies nine features that have few facilities or structures. Taiwan, Malaysia and Vietnam also have a presence in the area, and overlapping territorial claims.
This disparity explains, in part, the Philippines’ urgency in bolstering its defense alliances, most notably with the US.
Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr has, over the past year, moved to assert his nation’s rights in the waters and he has been backed by unstinting US support.
Marcos is to meet US President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in a trilateral summit at the White House on Thursday aimed at strengthening ties. Both Japan and the Philippines are treaty allies of the US.
On a recent visit to Thitu Island — which is also known as Pag-asa, the local word for hope — arranged by the Philippine Coast Guard, Bloomberg News saw first hand just how underdeveloped the Philippines’ largest-occupied feature in the disputed sea is.
Much of the island is still unpaved, with mobile phone and Internet signals hard to come by. There is still evidence of the destruction caused by a 2021 typhoon — school buildings with damaged roofs and windows that are unusable.
Given its location — nearly 450km from Palawan province — residents sometimes wait days for basic supplies such as noodles, coffee and soap to be ferried in. The Philippine Coast Guard’s new monitoring station appears largely rudimentary.
Still, the Southeast Asian nation is determined to maintain a civilian and military presence on Thitu Island. Aircraft can now land on its runway after repairs and an expansion. A landing dock and a port have also been built, and construction is in full swing to extend the island farther into the sea. There are plans to equip the area with a naval port and radars.
Manila also recently sent researchers to check marine resources near Thitu Island, yet another step to assert its rights in disputed waters.
The research initially found dead corals and small species of fish that suggest environmental degradation in the vicinity of the island, but did not directly attribute the findings to Beijing’s presence in the area.
“Our overarching strategy involves continuous enhancement of facilities, modernization efforts, and fortification of assets and capabilities,” Philippine military spokesperson Colonel Francel Margareth Padilla said when asked about plans for Thitu Island. “These measures are vital in upholding our sovereignty over Philippine territorial waters.”
These Philippine attempts are likely to draw opposition from China, which has refused to recognize a 2016 arbitral ruling that dashed its expansive claims. Beijing maintains a constant watch on the island, and its coast guard and militia ships regularly patrol close to Thitu Island. Some of the vessels were involved in a tense encounter over nearby sand bars.
“At first, this was intended to coerce the Philippines into abandoning the upgrades,” said Gregory Poling, who directs the Southeast Asia program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. “Now, it seems meant to merely intimidate the Philippines, but with little chance of success.”
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