Marine biologists had just shown them videos and data. Chinese trespassers recently pulverized 12,000 hectares of corals in the West Philippine Sea.
Southwestward is Ayungin Shoal where the Philippine Navy’s beached BRP Sierra Madre stands guard. To the northwest is Panganiban Reef, which Beijing stole in 1995 and concreted into an island fortress. Reefs also contain minerals for high technology and substances for new medicines. They take centuries to form, and China’s smashing will take centuries more to restore nature.
Former Supreme Court Justice Antonio Carpio theorized that China was building artificial islands in order to legitimize its concreting in 2013 of nearby Zamora Reef into an airstrip. China misinterprets international law, thinking it can reduce Pag-asa’s 12-mile territorial waters via four artificial islets.
Landsbergis said his country of 2.8 million people is under constant cyberattack by Russia and China. “We’ve developed expertise in counteractions,” he said. “We can share these with the Philippines.”