QUEZON CITY, Philippines (Eagle News) — Magdalo Party-List Representative Gary Alejano expressed alarm after China launched its dredging vessel which was dubbed its “magic island-maker.”
Alejano said that with the recent addition to China’s maritime arsenal, the move will allow China to aggressively reclaim more areas in the West Philippine Sea.
“This newest addition to China’s maritime arsenal provides increased and faster capacity to dredge and reclaim islands,” said Alejano.
He is referring to the recently launched 140-meter-long 28-meter-wide dredger, the Tian Kun Hao at a port in eastern Jiangsu province in China.
The ship, capable of building artificial islands of the sort the country has constructed in the contested South China Sea, was launched Friday at a port in eastern Jiangsu province, according to the state-owned China Daily.
The boat is capable of digging 6,000 cubic meters an hour, the equivalent of three standard swimming pools, the newspaper said.
It is a larger version of the one China used to dredge sand, mud and coral for transforming reefs and islets in the South China Sea into artificial islands capable of hosting military installations.
When testing of the ship is completed next June, it will be the most powerful such vessel in Asia, the paper noted, nicknaming it the “magic island maker”.
“The Tian Kun Hao is quite alarming in itself….It would make it easier for China to build artificial islands and reclaim more reefs. Take for instance what China did when it reclaimed its seven reefs in 2013 to 2016. Given the earlier aggressive reclamation activities of China, one cannot help but be alarmed on what this massive dredger could do,” he said.
Alejano called for a clear stance in the Philippines’ foreign policy in order to defend the country’s sovereignty.
“The Duterte administration must set and clarify the country’s strategic direction for the West Philippine Sea before it is too late. Silence and inaction to Chinese incursions in our Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) in exchange of loans and trade gains will hurt the country’s national interests in the long run,” he said.
(with an Agence France Presse report)
https://youtu.be/FjpPx38HVPQ
