U.S. says concerned over Chinese reclamation in Manila Bay
The Hindu
U.S. diplomats raise security & environmental concerns with Philippines over Chinese Co. involvement in Manila Bay reclamation project. U.S. Embassy concerned about potential "irreversible impacts to environment" & ties to blacklisted China Communications Construction Co. Environmental groups warn of worsened flooding.
U.S. diplomats have raised security and environmental concerns with the Philippines over the involvement of a Chinese company in a land reclamation project in Manila Bay, a US embassy spokesman said on August 2.
A subsidiary of China Communications Construction Co, which was blacklisted by Washington in 2020, has been contracted to reclaim 318 hectares (786 acres) in waters fronting the U.S. Embassy and Philippine Navy headquarters, the Philippine Reclamation Authority told AFP.
U.S. Embassy spokesman Kanishka Gangopadhyay said the American diplomatic mission had expressed several concerns with the Philippines, including the project's "potential negative long-term and irreversible impacts to the environment".
"We are also concerned that the projects have ties to the China Communications Construction Co., which has been added to the U.S. Department of Commerce's Entity List for its role in helping the Chinese military construct and militarize artificial islands in the South China Sea," he said in a statement.
China claims almost the entire South China Sea and has reinforced its stance by ripping up thousands of hectares of reef to create new land for artificial islands in the Spratly archipelago.
Environmental groups have long warned that land reclamation in Manila Bay will worsen flooding in the sprawling metropolis of 13 million people.
The 34.4 billion-peso ($624-million), four-year project is a joint venture between the Manila City government and Waterfront Manila Premier Development, said Joseph Literal, assistant general manager at the reclamation authority.