Golez: China building defense triangle at sea

AMID RISING tensions in the West Philippine Sea, Philippine Marines and their US counterparts hold a simulated boat raid at a training center in Ternate, Cavite province, part of the recently concluded nine-day joint military exercise dubbed Phiblex 2016. GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE

CHINA’S incursion into disputed islands in the South China Sea is part of a triangle aimed at expanding its military influence close to the US trust territory of Guam in the Western Pacific, former National Security Adviser Roilo Golez said Tuesday.

Golez, 68, a former Parañaque representative, told a breakfast forum that he met in Japan with a group of experts with military and strategic defense background early this year. He said they all concluded that Beijing was building a South China Sea triangle that started with its control of the Paracel Islands.

The graduate of the Philippine Military Academy and the US Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland, said the triangle expanded to its second point in the Kagitingan Reef (Fiery Cross Reef), Zamora Reef (Subi Reef) and Panganiban Reef (Mischief Reef), all within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone.

“Fiery Cross, Subi and Mischief appear to have 3-kilometer-long runways that can accommodate all the aircraft in the inventory of China’s Air Force such as fighters, bombers, transport and surveillance planes,” Golez said.

The third point in the triangle is Panatag Shoal (Scarborough Shoal), which is also inside Philippine territory, he said, adding that China recently sent a survey ship to Recto Bank (Reed Bank), which President Aquino promised to defend in his 2011 State of the Nation Address.

“If they (Chinese) can complete this triangle, they will have full control of the South China Sea. This will be a game changer, it will affect our security and the region,” Golez warned.

The triangle, according to Golez, would provide China with a first defense line that would prevent hostile forces from going to China through the South China Sea, and a second defense line through which its naval and air forces could cover the West Pacific to prevent the US 7th Fleet from coming to the aid of its allies in the region.

“Through Scarborough, China can deploy fighter planes and bombers over Borneo, Vietnam, the Philippines and Malaysia and employ an antiaccess, area denial strategy to prevent the 7th Fleet from going inside or going close. China can declare South China Sea an aerial defense identification zone,” Golez said.

He said China had built a killer missile, which could destroy any of America’s vaunted aircraft carriers.