Duterte’s China development plan for South China Sea islands ‘poses security risk’ for Philippines

Defence officials say plans by Chinese investors to develop infrastructure and tourism facilities on three Philippine islands pose a security risk and undermine Manila’s position in its dispute with Beijing over the South China Sea.

Philippine naval and national defence chiefs, who say they were not consulted in advance about the plans, warn the developments would give Beijing footholds on strategically important locations at the edge of the disputed waters.

The proposed development of Fuga, Chiquita and Grande islands is part of a US$12 billion deal formalised when Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte visited China in April, meeting his counterpart Xi Jinping and attending the Belt and Road Initiative forum.

The plans include a US$2 billion smart city on Fuga, a 10,000-hectare island in Cagayan province, which once served as a staging post for troops during World War II. The development of Fuga would be based on a mega-infrastructure project in China’s Fujian province and built by Xiamen-based Fong-Zhi Enterprise.

The proposals also envisage tourism, leisure and investment facilities on Grande and Chiquita islands, both situated near Subic Bay, which previously hosted a US naval base that was closed in 1992. The two islands are not far from Scarborough Shoal that Beijing seized in 2012.