“The Philippine Navy suggested that, why not the Philippines take over so that we’ll have a naval base there? Then we’ll have shipbuilding capabilities,” international media quoted Lorenzana as saying during an event at the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines last week.
That’s an entirely realistic scenario, analysts said.
“It would be consistent with political initiatives to increase domestic industrial development,” said Zoe Stanley Lockman, associate research fellow specializing in defense and security at Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University. She said there’s currently a bill on the country’s Senate floor that, if passed, would increase support for the defense industry, large parts of which are already government owned and operated.
Others, however, said China-related security concerns are overblown.
“We shouldn’t overstate the importance of a Chinese company operating Hanjin,” said Zack Cooper, a research fellow specializing in U.S. defense strategy in Asia at the American Enterprise Institute. “Just because a Chinese company operates the port and shipyard does not mean that Chinese military vessels can dock there — the same is true with Darwin Port in Australia, which is now operated by a Chinese firm.”
from Viral News Reports http://bit.ly/2UfTZj4
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