Palace banking on China ‘goodwill’

Malacañang on Monday said it was still relying on the “goodwill” of China after a newspaper in the mainland reported that China had “accelerated and enhanced its military presence” in the South China Sea.

It also said that there was a plan to commission a “fleet of offshore nuclear platforms” for its islands before 2020.

Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said it was prudent to find out where the actual construction occurred since the Philippines was not claiming the whole South China Sea.

“We don’t know where these works are. We continue to rely on China’s good faith,” Roque said in a statement.

“Location is material since we do not have claims on all the islands and waters in the disputed area,” he added.

The Global Times on Saturday reported that “the construction covered 290,000 square meters, including new facilities for underground storage, administrative buildings and a large radar.”

The Global Times is an English-language newspaper under the People’s Daily, the official newspaper of the Chinese Communist Party.

The paper based its article on a report posted on nanhai.haiwainet.cn, a website run jointly by the overseas edition of the People’s Daily and China’s National Marine Data and Information Service.