Manila, Philippines - China is pushing its expansion to the fullest. More new structures are being built on Mischief Reef, one of the areas being claimed by the Philippines.

Windmill, solar panels, a concrete platform suitable for use as a helipad and a basketball court were seen installed in the area.

"Improved facilities bolster PRC’s (People’s Republic of China’s) effective occupation and increased vigilance in the disputed areas,” Rommel Banlaoi, executive director of think tank Philippine Institute for Peace, Violence and Terrorism Research, said to Philstar.

Mischief Reef is about 70 nautical miles from Palawan and closest to Ayungin Shoal, where the Philippines has a coast watch station.

Mischief Reef, which the Philippines calls Panganiban Reef, has been occupied by China since 1995.

China initially constructed structures on stilts at Panganiban Reef to provide shelter for fishermen but later transformed it into a military garrison equipped with powerful radars and other air and maritime monitoring equipment.

China also installed a powerful radar station in Subi Reef, an islet just 12 nautical miles southwest of Pag-asa Island. The Chinese began building the four-story structure, including a lighthouse, six years ago.

The Philippines, on the other hand, has built a town hall, a health center, a 1.3-kilometer airstrip, a naval station and recently a kindergarten school at Pag-asa Island.

With the Chinese garrison and its powerful naval equipment in the area, China now poses further threat to the Philippine Islands. China is slowly invading the Philippines, a doomsday which every Filipino don't like to ever happen.

Source: Philstar