China has rewarded Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte's fawning solicitude by sending dredging ships to the vicinity of the Philippine-held Scarborough Shoal only 230 kilometers from the Philippines' main island of Luzon in preparation for building a man-made island inside Philippine territory.

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Building a man-made island inside a country's exclusive economic zone is considered an act of war.

The Philippines' defense secretary Delfin Lorenzana told media that China is trying to build an island on a reef near Scarborough Shoal that will eventually encompass the entire shoal. Panatag Island is the Filipino name for Scarborough Shoal.

He said such a move would be totally "unacceptable," a warning that carries only two options: the Philippines' begging China to stop (which China won't), or the Philippines' anti-American president Rodrigo Duterte begging the United States to help him (which anti-China U.S. president Donald Trump probably will). Trump has vowed to counter any Chinese attempt to tighten military control of the South China Sea.

The former option is considered the likeliest for Duterte, who has often been accused of being a communist.

"They encroached," said Lorenzana about a 2012 confrontation against China at Scarborough Shoal, which saw the China Coast Guard evict Filipino fishing boats from the traditional fishing grounds.

"They occupied three islands there (in the Spratlys) plus they are trying to get Scarborough. So to us that is unacceptable.

"If we allow them, they will build. That's very, very disturbing. Very much (more) disturbing than Fiery Cross because this is so close to us."

Fiery Cross is one of the Philippine-claimed reefs China has illegally seized.

Lorenzana said China's reclamation of Scarborough Shoal was intended to secure its complete control of the South China Sea.

"That could be their strategy to counter any superpower that would encroach on South China Sea because they believe South China Sea is -- that's like their lake to them -- theirs," he noted.

A military outpost at Scarborough Shoal will place Chinese fighter jets and missiles within easy striking distance of U.S .forces stationed in the Philippines.

The Americans have previously said that China's building a manmade island on Scarborough Shoal is a "red line" that might trigger U.S. military intervention.

"The American, that's their red line," said Lorenzana.

"Red line meaning you can't do that there, so they (China) did not do it. If we had a strong military presence (in the South China Sea), we can stop them but we don't.

"I am still hoping in the future some reasonable guy there in Beijing will come to see the light that this is ours. That is shooting for the moon but who knows?"

Duterte has angered the United States in the past by insulting former U.S. president Barack Obama as an idiot for opposing Duterte's murderous drug campaign that has seen Philippine police murder over 7,000 Filipinos since July 2016.

Without the United States as an ally, the Philippines -- because of Duterte's stupidity in alienating its long-time friend -- has no choice except to allow China to reclaim the Scarborough Shoal. Duterte has long claimed the Philippines alone can't fight China.

He spurned the U.S. to avoid angering China, forgetting it's only the fear of U.S. military power that prevents China from militarizing the entire South China Sea.

Standing by and doing nothing while China commits an act of war will inflame Philippine nationalism and intensify the opposition to Duterte, whose administration is insanely focused on its war on the poor it calls a drug war.

Tagschina, Scarborough Shoal, Philippines, Luzon, Rodrigo Duterte, Reclamation, manmade island, Delfin Lorenzana, United States