COMMENTARY: Manila in new arms race with a China it cannot match SPRATLY ISLANDS--Pag-asa (hope) Island looked like a historic battlefield when I chartered a fishing boat in August to visit this Philippine military outpost in the South China Sea. I saw an airstrip eroded by waves and left unattended. I saw a tank submerged in a jungle, an anti-ship battery left to rust and a trench filled with graffiti on its walls. Some 30 troops of the navy and the air force are stationed on Pag-asa Island, along with about 100 civilians. A town hall, a clinic and other civilian facilities have gradually been developed, but military establishments showed no signs of active renovations. Pag-asa is located in the center of the Kalayaan, or “freedom,” group of islands, so named by a dictator 36 years ago. In 1978, Ferdinand Marcos, then president of the Philippines, declared control over the waters surrounding the disputed Spratly (Nansha) Islands in the West Philippine Sea, known globally as the South China Sea, and began fortifying Pag-asa into an outpost. The Marcos dictatorship collapsed in 1986, giving way to a return of democracy. Military spending of the Philippines remained at subdued levels compared with those of its neighbors, as the Cold War subsequently ended and the country’s economy remained lackluster. And Manila remained on friendly terms with Beijing until the mid-2000s. Amid a string of coup attempts, the country allocated more of its budgets for improving the working conditions of its soldiers than on upgrading its arsenal. MILITARY MODERNIZATION DRIVE Philippine President Benigno Aquino III proudly said July 1 that fighter jets will be deployed by the end of next year. “The air force seemed to have failed to take off from decades of anomalies, abuse and neglect,” Aquino said in a speech marking the anniversary of the Philippine Air Force. “But we can again defend our territory in a more effective way.” The air force had a maximum fleet of 34 F-5 fighters during the 1990s, but they were all decommissioned due to aging and obsolescence in 2005. The country has since remained aerially unarmed for a decade, until it decided to acquire 12 FA-50 fighters as a centerpiece of a military modernization program, which kicked off last year. The program also features a shopping cart of long-distance warning aircraft, combat helicopters, anti-submarine helicopters, frigates, airborne radar apparatus and other equipment. The country plans to spend 85.3 billion pesos ($1.94 billion, or 200 billion yen) over five years. Military spending by the Philippines began to soar from around 2010, and rose 16.8 percent year on year in 2013, according to the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London. The surge is attributed partly to less austere state coffers, as the country has enjoyed one of the highest economic growth rates in Asia over the past three years or so. But before everything, it is intended to prepare against an offensive by China, which continues to expand its presence in the South China Sea. Manila’s neighbors are also expanding their military spending under similar circumstances. Vietnam has placed an order with Russia for six submarines. The country said in July it would spend $540 million to acquire 32 coast guard patrol vessels. Indonesia’s and Cambodia’s military expenses grew 26.5 percent and 10.3 percent, respectively, year on year in 2013. The IISS said Asia’s military spending surpassed Europe’s in 2012 for the first time in modern history and rose to $321.8 billion in 2013, up 23 percent from 2010. The continued arms race in Asia has partly been attributed to the absence of a collective security framework of the sort that exists in Europe. ajw.asahi/article/views/column/AJ201409050001
Posted on: Fri, 05 Sep 2014 07:29:05 +0000
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