The Philippine military on Tuesday warned plans by President Rodrigo Duterte's government to allow Chinese investors to develop three tiny but strategic islands could"compromise" Manila's security.
US forces vacated Subic and other Philippine bases in 1992 and it is now a home port for the Philippine Navy. "There's no doubt that these island features has or have strategic security impacts on us if these were to fall into the hands of other people. They have a strategic importance for our defence," Arevalo told reporters.
Duterte has overseen improved economic ties with China since being elected president in mid-2016, when he set aside a sovereignty dispute over islands and waters in the South China Sea that Beijing claims almost in its entirety.
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