US bases make Philippines vulnerable to Chinese attack

If the Ukraine war has taught us anything, it is that any future military conflict especially in the South China Sea, the West Philippine Sea or the Straits of Taiwan will be a war primarily fought with short-range and long-range missiles, even hypersonic missiles, together with all internet systems being disrupted by cyber warfare.

The growing tension in the Asia-Pacific region with the Philippines at the center makes it time for Filipinos to start worrying about a possible war over Taiwan that would rain down Chinese missile strikes on any of the US bases, now or in the future, in the Batanes Islands, Cagayan, Basa Air Base or nearby Clark, Subic Bay and parts of Mindanao and Palawan.

On Jan. 31, The Manila Times reported as follows: “A four-star US Air Force general has warned of a conflict with China as early as 2025 — most likely over Taiwan — and urged his commanders to push their units to achieve maximum operational battle readiness this year. In an internal memorandum that first emerged on social media on Friday, and was later confirmed as genuine by the Pentagon, the head of the Air Mobility Command, Gen. Mike Minihan, said the main goal should be to deter ‘and, if required, defeat’ China.”

So, if there will be a major conflict here it will be over Taiwan and most certainly not over the Philippine atolls and sand banks taken and occupied by China from the Philippines and the few tons of fish stolen daily from Philippine waters.

“Much like Vladimir Putin, the Chinese president has grandiose imperialistic ambitions”

Taiwan is a small, democratic independent state with a Taiwanese population of 24 million as of 2020, and 150,000 to 200,000 Filipinos living there. It is just 320 kilometers (200 miles) north of the Philippines. It is claimed by China as part of its sovereign territory. China has declared in recent years that it wants Taiwan back under Beijing’s communist control even with the use of force.

Shortly after the then US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited the island state in August 2020 in a show of US solidarity, China unleashed a…