The Philippine Territory

The Philippines has announced plans to relocate its major navy and air force camps to Subic Bay, a former US military base closed in the early 1990s, against the background of  disputes with China in the South China Sea.

The announcement came amid media reports that the US is using its P3C Orion surveillance planes to monitor Chinese activities in the disputed waters.

Analysts said such moves indicate closer Manila-Washington defense cooperation and an increasing US military presence in the Asia-Pacific region, warning that this would fuel tension in the area.

During his visit to South Korea, Philippine Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin Sunday said the relocation plan is "for the protection of our West Philippine Sea (South China Sea)," according to reports from the AP.

"Although the Philippines said the plan is to move its navy and air force camps to Subic Bay, this would be more than a simple relocation as the base was not used for many years. I think they want to resume or rebuild the base," Zhu Zhenming, a deputy director of the Institute for Southeast Asian Studies at the Yunnan Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times.


Gazmin said that Manila is still looking for funding for the plan and as soon as relocation funds are available the government plans to transfer air force and naval forces and their fleets of aircraft and warships to Subic Bay, according to the AP.

Zhu said that given Manila's current capabilities, it is hard for the country to finish the project on its own. "It is possible that the US and Japan would offer Manila some financial and technical help," he noted.

Citing a confidential military document, the agency said that the relocation to Subic will cut reaction time for fighter aircraft to reach the South China Sea areas by more than three minutes compared with taking off from Clark airfield.

The Philippine Star newspaper Monday quoted Peter Galvez, a spokesman for the Philippine Department of National Defense, as saying that Subic is being considered as the location for "strategic and cost efficient" reasons.

Galvez noted that Subic could accommodate large and advanced ships like the Navy frigates BRP Gregorio del Pilar and the BRP Ramon Alcaraz and its existing airport facilities make it easier to move air force units from Clark.

Su Hao, director of the Asia-Pacific Research Center at China Foreign Affairs University, told the Global Times that the Philippines' plan to restart the Subic Bay military base is obviously acting in cooperation with the return of a large US military presence to the Asia-Pacific region.

"Once the base is resumed, this would make it easier for the US air force and navy to conduct military activities in the area," Su said.
"Although Philippine laws bar the US from establishing military bases in the country, the US warships and planes could be stationed there in a flexible way," he noted.

Japan's Kyodo News reported Monday that the US navy's P3C Orion surveillance planes are conducting routine maritime patrol to monitor activities in the South China Sea, especially in waters of the Nansha Islands.

Philippine Ambassador to the US Jose Cuisia recently told a forum in Manila that the Philippines and the US "have clearly congruent interests" in the Asia-Pacific region, according to the report.

A Chinese military source told the Global Times Monday that China is fully aware of the details of the US navy's P3C activities in the South China Sea.
The source said the report by Japanese media is aimed at highlighting the united position among the US, Japan and the Philippines against China and covering up Japan's increasing reconnaissance activities targeting China.
Source: http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/800655.shtml#.Uf6NFZLfBD0