The Philippines has said it plans to develop islands and reefs in the South China Sea that are the subject of contesting claims from China. The upgrades to the territorial features will seek to make them liveable for troops, Manila’s military chief Romeo Brawner said on Monday. The announcement came amid simmering tensions between the Philippines and China. These islands include the Second Thomas Shoal as well as Thitu Island, the biggest and most strategically important in the South China Sea. The military wishes to install a desalination machine on a warship that the Philippines deliberately grounded on Second Thomas Shoal in 1999 to assert its sovereignty claim, Brawner said. The Philippines’ military also plans on acquiring more ships, radars and aircraft as Manila shifts its focus from internal defense to territorial defense, Brawner said.

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