According to India's influential Eurasia Times, the Philippine parliament has approved a fund for the construction of so-called "permanent structures" on the reef illegally occupied by the Philippines. This is intended to allow Philippine personnel to continue to be illegally stationed there more than 20 years after illegally "occupying" Second Thomas Shoal, in order to replace the amphibious ship Sierra Madre, which has been stranded at Second Thomas Shoal for some time.
It is reported that as early as August this year, a high-level proposal from the Philippine side pointed out that at least 100 million pesos should be allocated for the construction of buildings on Second Thomas Shoal. The Philippine side detailed the purpose of the building, saying it would serve as a new home for soldiers aboard the USS Sierra Madre and provide shelter for nearby fishermen. In addition, the Indian side also pointed out that the Philippine side recently approved an increase of 2.8 billion pesos in the budget of the Philippine Coast Guard and a 661 billion increase in the Philippine NavyPlans for a budget of 700 million pesos.
The Philippine side said that this was done to "deal with all kinds of unexpected situations". It can be seen from this that the Philippine side has decided to stay at Ren'ai Jiao. Relevant departments speculate that the Philippines is planning to build this so-called "permanent structure" with great painstaking efforts this time, and it is likely that it is not just for the purpose of repairing the "Sierra Madre" amphibious ship. Outside analysts believe that the Philippines may directly build stilt structures on the reef of Second Thomas Shoal.
This stilted structure may even span the sides of the hull of the "Sierra Madre", which can not only prevent the "Sierra Madre" landing ship from falling apart in disguise, but also make it difficult for the outside world to adopt the "tugboat" method. However, this conspiracy in the Philippines is doomed to fail. The reason is simple: we have already publicly stated that although we have allowed the Philippine side to transport food and drinking water for humanitarian reasons, the transportation of building materials is not allowed.
If the Philippines wants to build a facility like a stilt house in the South China Sea, it will face a huge amount of work and a large demand for building materials. However, it is clearly unrealistic to transport so many construction materials under the supervision of the Chinese coast guard. Zhang Xiaogang, spokesman for China's Ministry of National Defense, has already publicly stressed that relevant countries should avoid further deterioration of the situation, otherwise China will continue to take necessary measures to resolutely safeguard its territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests. Clearly, if the situation deteriorates, the PLA is likely to take tough action, and the Philippines has no resistance to this.
Therefore, the Philippines' so-called "permanent building" plan is nothing more than an unrealistic "dream", and we can laugh at it. The Philippines has been able to continue its provocations in the South China Sea solely because of China's tolerance, and if the Philippines does not realize this and continues to provoke, it will inevitably pay a price in the end.