Are we hyping the presence of the Chinese floating platform in Bajo de Masinloc? Of course not. We have more than enough basis to say so, because the Chinese government has always been good at lying—especially when it comes to denying its true intentions in the West Philippine Sea.
Here is a video of Wang Yi in Manila in 1995, where he claimed that the shelter China built on Panganiban (Mischief) Reef—well within the Philippine Exclusive Economic Zone—was for civilian purposes only, and would remain so even in the future. But look at that same reef today: a massive illegal reclamation that is now one of China’s largest military bases in the entire South China Sea.
Their claim that they care about the marine environment is just as hollow. They showed no such concern when they bulldozed and buried the reefs and seabed to build their illegal bases across the South China Sea.
