By Robert B. Roque, Jr.
China is running a smart race to conquer what has now been exposed as “near space.” It is that layer of the atmosphere above flight paths of commercial and even military jets, but just below spaceflights and satellites.
This high-above domain, which CNN reported as the transit space of hypersonic weapons and ballistic missiles, is where China now concentrates the flight of its infamous balloons — the likes of the one shot down by a US military jet in American airspace last week.
Reports say that the “near space” of over 40 countries has long been the playground of Chinese-made balloons, described by military experts as pretty much “high-tech” and solar-powered.
Harmless as they appear, looks can be deceiving. And US officials claim that the balloon it shot out of their near space was a device used in the “extensive Chinese surveillance program.”
Already, military experts are calling near space the new battleground.
If our President claims China’s swarming of the West Philippine Sea has made him lose sleep at night. I wonder how many world leaders have been staying up at night over this near-space invasion by Beijing.
Defense quad
From the strategic military cooperation among the Philippines, the United States, and Japan, as the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) put forth, there is now a proposal to expand this security triad into a defense quad with Australia.
Of course, this sounds like a formidable alliance for regional security, especially with all the troublemaking by Beijing in the South China Sea.
The weakest link in this defense quad, however, is more than obvious. To be bold is one thing, but to be solid and formidable against China’s bullying in this region requires more than the unity of two Asian-Pacific neighbors.
Hopefully, a united front among Southeast and East Asian nations will be forged so that genuine national interests are pursued in the context of regional security instead of geopolitical supremacies in the agenda of powerful countries from across continents.
PR-style governance
Speaking of Japan, Malacanang has been heralding the investment possibilities President Bongbong has brought home from Japan. There’s news of $600 million being poured into Philippine infrastructure.
But there’s also news that the Philippine delegation to Japan, the President included, was mostly trying to corner investment pledges from big business for the proposed Maharlika Investment Fund, which is not even a sovereign fund yet.
Meanwhile, it has come to light that based on the United Nations’ analysis released recently, the Philippines is not putting up enough capital on education, healthcare, and infrastructure as it should. And I thought these were the top priorities of Marcos’s predecessor, the Duterte administration.
Better avoid falling into the same press release style of governance, Mr. Junior.
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