This is John Bachelor, conversation with Captain James Finel, United States Navy retired intelligence officer, talking about the threat from the People's Liberation Army Navy and Coast Guard in the South China Sea intimidating, crashing into, and meaning to bully the Philippines into obedience and what is to be done.

Here James talks about the availability of Palawan Island

on the shores of the South China Sea

where the intention of the Department of Defense led by Secretary Austin

is to rebuild an American base there on Palawan, giving us an extra ability to fend off the

Chinese advances against Filipino craft and Filipino

resupply of their craft. James Finel on Palawan Island, part of the Philippines archipelago, and an answer to the Chinese

Great Wall of Sand, the artificial islands that they've constructed in the South China Sea used as bases, armed

bases, hardened armed bases, against our allies. More of this tonight.

Yes it would, John, and we should be accelerating our construction of a facility down there so that we could start having a more regular presence of U.S. Navy combatants that could be on station.

As we discussed in earlier episodes, China has three major naval bases down there in the Spratleys at Mischief Reef,

fiery cross, and Suby Reef that are large enough to hold aircraft carriers and they have

10,000 foot runways. So China's got the ability to stay on station not only with their gray holes but with their white holes in their coastguard and their fishing fleets and their maritime militia.