South China Sea: Philippine push on tiny Thitu Island could stoke further tensions with Beijing

Thitu Island, a little-known outpost in the contested South China Sea which analysts say is “critical” to the Philippines’ maritime security, could become a potential flashpoint after Beijing criticised Manila’s efforts to upgrade its military presence there.

China’s state-owned Global Times newspaper last week accused the Philippines of causing possible “provocations” on Thitu by expanding its military infrastructure to “potentially invite warships and warplanes from countries outside the region such as the US and Japan, sabotaging peace and stability in the South China Sea in the process”.

Thitu is the largest land mass in the Philippine-claimed Kalayaan Island Group within the Spratly Islands, located about 285 nautical miles (528km) from the western island province of Palawan. Mainland China, Vietnam and Taiwan also lay claim to the area.

China’s accusations about Thitu, known as Pag-asa Island in the Philippines, come amid a recent series of clashes between Manila and Beijing at nearby Sabina Shoal and Second Thomas Shoal, with both sides blaming the other for the incidents.

The Philippines established a coastguard monitoring base equipped with radar, ship-tracking, and other monitoring equipment on Thitu in December. The island also features military barracks and an unpaved airstrip.

Defence analyst Santiago Castillo told This Week in Asia that the Philippines had plans to further improve the defence infrastructure on the island to increase maritime domain awareness and logistical capacity of its military forces.

“As to potentially inviting warplanes from the US and Japan, that is a matter of logistics and operational coordination,” said Castillo, who previously worked in the Philippine government’s security sector.

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