{"id":6268,"date":"2020-04-07T16:29:10","date_gmt":"2020-04-07T06:29:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.philippinesentinel.org\/?p=6268"},"modified":"2020-04-07T16:29:10","modified_gmt":"2020-04-07T06:29:10","slug":"benham-rise-could-be-the-next-flashpoint-with-china","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.philippinesentinel.org\/?p=6268","title":{"rendered":"Benham Rise could be the next flashpoint with China"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p style=\"font-size:14px\"><strong>By Bernie V. Lopez<br><\/strong><em>As seen on the April 2020 issue of Philippine Tribune<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Spratleys is peanuts compared to Benham, the next flashpoint with China. There are a few reefs to militarize, only remote defenceless oil rigs to build. China\u2019s ongoing secret explorations imply they will claim Benham by hook or by crook. Duterte\u2019s subservient stance has nullified the victories in the Hague. What options are there?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1114\" height=\"583\" src=\"https:\/\/www.philippinesentinel.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/0420_ArtImg_Benham01-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-6270\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Benham Submarine Plateau is a 13-million hectare undersea mesa, 250 km east of Dinapigue, Isabela, awarded to the Philippines by the UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf in December 2013. It is rich in mineral and gas resources.<br><br>In July 2016, China Daily reported China\u2019s secret undersea explorations. Pre-Hispanic people from Catanduanes fished in the area.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Bernie V. LopezAs seen on the April 2020 issue of Philippine Tribune Spratleys is peanuts compared to Benham, the next flashpoint with China. There are a few reefs to militarize, only remote defenceless oil rigs to build. China\u2019s ongoing secret explorations imply they will claim Benham by hook or by crook. Duterte\u2019s subservient stance [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":139,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[97,70],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.philippinesentinel.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6268"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.philippinesentinel.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.philippinesentinel.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.philippinesentinel.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/139"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.philippinesentinel.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6268"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.philippinesentinel.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6268\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6271,"href":"https:\/\/www.philippinesentinel.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6268\/revisions\/6271"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.philippinesentinel.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6268"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.philippinesentinel.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6268"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.philippinesentinel.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6268"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}