The US military will fund the construction of a new port in Batanes, the Philippines’ northernmost province, which is less than 125 miles from Taiwan.
According to Kyodo News, Batanes Governor Marilou Cayco said over the weekend that a US Army delegation would be visiting to discuss the construction of the new facility in April.
Cayco said one purpose of the port would be to make it easier to evacuate Filipinos who work in Taiwan in the event a war breaks out on the island. According to Taiwan News, the exact location of the port hasn’t been announced, but it’s expected to face north. The province’s current major port faces the west.
The Philippine military is looking to bolster its presence in Batanes and is scheduled to hold drills on the islands with the US military this April and May. Last year, Washington and Manila signed a deal that gives the US access to four new bases in the Philippines, a move China viewed as a major provocation.
Three of the new US bases are in the northern Philippines but not as far north as Batanes. The other base is in Palawan, an island province on the South China Sea, where the US has been stepping up patrols in support of Manila’s claims.
The South China Sea has become a potential flashpoint for a war between the US and China as Washington has repeatedly vowed the US-Philippine Mutual Defense Treaty applies to attacks on Philippine vessels in the South China Sea. The Chinese and Philippine coast guards often have tense encounters in the disputed waters that sometimes end in collision.
So this is where infrastructure is being built. Now I see, ports in Gaza and Taiwan.
Meantime, let me stay on hold for 30 mins to report another pothole that won’t get fixed for months and will damage 100 cars before they do it…
Potholes aren’t on AIPAC’s high priority list.
This shows you again that it takes a lot of work to provoke and justify a war that’s unprovoked and unjustified. The Chinese sold me a fantastic refrigerator for a price that’s less than it costs to ship it from China! Such atrocities must be stopped even if we end up in nuclear war. …I’m not kidding. 95% of the folks I talk with agree with me. They hate China so much!
… and this digital equipment enabling my access to alternative media and discussion. It makes me so angry to have to give up my expensive cable news and NYT sub.
LOL
Pentagon waste money and wants money…!
10% for the big guy. More projects; more 10%.
This is a simple “needs” vs.”wants” calculation. Americans make those decisions all the time, particularly when groceries and other necessities are as much as 2x what they were a couple years ago. It’s called prioritization. For example ….
The pentagon needs $10B to replace weapons sent to Ukraine. The Batanes port is to make evacuating Filipinos easier in case of war in Taiwan. Easier is not only not a Need, in this case it’s not even a certainty, a certainty over which the US has a great deal of control.
Decision: The Philippines pays for it’s own unnecessary port.
If China illegally built infrastructure in the South Sea against international laws. You know, invade and annex just like Fascist Putin…
The US can similarly build a port in the Philippines with permission.
🤷🏽♂️
You poor guy. The effects of brainwashing are such an ugly thing to see. Hope you recover.
These morons don’t know what a missile is. The US Navy’s aircraft carriers are going to find out. So will any US ports and air bases in the region.
Short of nuclear war it is physically impossible for the US to defeat China in a war, just as it was physically impossible for Ukraine to defeat Russia. Look up the term “military balance.”
Carriers are battleships hypersonic missiles are carriers…1942 you all know the aftermath