The Philippines built a new coast guard post on the disputed island of Titu in the South China Sea, boosting its ability to track the movements of Chinese vessels and aircraft in the busy disputed waterway, Reuters reports.
The new three-storey facility, inaugurated on Friday, is equipped with the latest technology such as radar, automatic identification, satellite communications and coastal cameras, the Philippine Coast Guard said in a statement. Eduardo Ano, the Philippine national security adviser, said during a visit to the island:
The behaviour of the Chinese coast guard, People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy and Chinese militias are sometimes unpredictable. They do not adhere to the international order, to the rule of law,” he told reporters on Friday. What they’re describing as gray-zone tactics … are pure bullying and it’s purely illegal. It’s not acceptable in the international order.
The Chinese embassy in Manila did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Manila outpost of Titu is the largest and most strategically important in the South China Sea, largely claimed by Beijing despite conflicting territorial claims by several countries in the region.
Known locally as Pag-asa, Titu is about 300 miles (480 kilometres) west of the Philippine province of Palawan. It is home to about 200 people, and Manila uses it to maintain its territorial claims.
In addition to the Philippines, Vietnam, Taiwan, Brunei, China, Malaysia and Vietnam claim sovereignty in the South China Sea, through which more than $3 trillion worth of goods pass annually.
