South China Sea: what can the Philippines do to counter Beijing’s island-building?

Observers believe the Philippines has limited military options to dislodge Chinese bases built on reclaimed land in their maritime territory

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Buildings and structures on the artificial island built by China in the South China Sea’s Fiery Cross Reef in October 2022. China has progressively asserted its claim of ownership over disputed islands in the South China Sea by artificially increasing the size of islands, creating new islands and building ports, military outposts and airstrips. Photo: Getty Images

Published: 4:54pm, 8 Aug 2024Updated: 6:13pm, 8 Aug 2024

A senior Philippine Navy official has detailed China’s extensive militarisation of around 3,000 hectares of reclaimed land in the South China Sea, including bases built on artificial islands within Manila’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

Beijing’s build-up of military bases in the heavily disputed waterway over the last 13 years represents a major strategic challenge for the Philippines, analysts say, as the country lacks the capacity to counter such developments militarily.

They argue Manila must now rely on diplomatic and legal measures to push back against China’s expansionism.

Navy spokesman Commodore Roy Trinidad said in a press briefing on Tuesday that China had built bases on Gaven Reef, Zhubi Reef, Fiery Cross Reef, which are outside the Philippines’ EEZ; and on Mischief Reef and Johnson South Reef, within the EEZ.

Trinidad said such bases had everything from airstrips and seaports to fuel depots and resting facilities for troops, giving Beijing the ability to easily position warships and aircraft in the West Philippine Sea, Manila’s term for the part of the South China Sea that lies within its EEZ.

In this photo from 2017, Chinese structures and an airstrip on the man-made Subi Reef in the South China Sea are seen from a Philippine Air Force C-130. Photo: AP

“It will be easy now to project their forces in the West Philippine Sea,” Trinidad said, noting that the Chinese vessels deployed to interrupt Manila’s rotation and resupply missions to an outpost on the nearby Second Thomas Shoal had come from those bases.