By Celeste Anna R. Formoso / Philippines News Agency
PUERTO PRINCESA CITY—China is rushing reclamation developments, particularly on Subi and Fiery Cross reefs on the West Philippine Sea (WPS) because it is eyeing the oil and gas-rich Reed Bank in the northeast quadrant of Kalayaan town in Palawan.
Vice Adm. Alexander Lopez Jr., Armed Forces Western Command chief, said this on Tuesday at the Multi-Sectoral Forum on the West Philippine Sea Issue jointly organized by the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Philippine Information Agency at a hotel here.
Speaking at the multisectoral forum, Lopez expressed belief that China is hastening its reclamation of the two reefs to easily get to the Reed Bank, a large tablemount with an area of 8,866 square kilometers.
“They are rushing the completion of Subi and Fiery Cross reefs because I think they are eyeing Reed Bank which has 20,000 times more than what Malampaya has,” Lopez said, adding the airstrips mean support to China’s air assets.
Recent seismic surveys done on the said bank indicate that oil and gas deposits are available in the area in very large quantities.
However, it is said they remain only partly tapped owing to the Philippines’s claim that is disputed by China.
As of June this year, images produced by satellites demonstrate that China has magnified its landfill activities on Subi Reef by around 70 percent in nearly two months. Lopez said the landfill can accommodate an air strip.
Development of the Fiery Cross (Kagitingan) Reef into an artificial island, he added, is vital because the airstrip can be used for the operation of military aircraft and serve as a refueling station.
China’s ongoing reclamation activities on the WPS are also on at Michief, Gaven, Hughes, Cuarteron and Johnson South reefs.