Manila open to allowing PLA Navy to visit its bases, says defence chief

Manila would not rule out allowing Chinese naval ships to call on the country's bases, including a planned defence installation at the former US naval facility in Subic, the Philippines' military chief told the South China Morning Post yesterday.

Subic, once a prized military facility for the US, is earmarked for a major upgrade with new bases that would allow the Philippines to station warships and new fighter jets just 124 nautical miles from Scarborough Shoal, a contentious area now controlled by China after a tense stand-off last year.

"Many foreign ships visit our ports and we welcome them, that is part of military diplomacy," Armed Forces chief of staff General Emmanuel Bautista said during a foreign correspondents forum in Manila.

Bautista's openness to the idea could be interpreted in a number of ways, including as a conciliatory gesture to Beijing. The PLA Navy has made three official ports of call to the Philippines since 1998.

But the Philippines has made no secret that it also wants to allow US forces to visit for longer periods and be stationed on Philippine military bases temporarily. Beijing has bristled at the intention of the US to "pivot" to the region it considers its backyard.

That issue would have no doubt been a theme of discussion between China's defence minister General Chang Wanquan and US defence secretary Chuck Hagel, who were due to meet yesterday on the sidelines of a two-day gathering of defence ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in Brunei.

The Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan also claim parts of the sea, and the area has for decades been regarded as a potential trigger for major military conflict.