U.S. military media recently reported that China has signed a $940 million (HK$7.3 billion) contract with the Philippines to build a rail link between Subic Bay in the Philippines and the U.S.-owned Clark Air Force Base in Luzon. The railroad contract is under scrutiny because the U.S. military can request temporary use of local airfield facilities in case of emergency, according to the U.S.-Philippines agreement.
The Chinese ambassador to the Philippines, Huang Xilian, confirmed the contents of the Sino-Philippine project in an earlier post on a social media site. The 71-kilometer railroad will be located in south-central Luzon, connecting the Subic Bay Freeport area to Clark International Airport and to the local northern railroad project.
Clark Air Force Base was under the U.S. Army from 1903 to 1991, but due to a local volcanic eruption, the U.S. Army decided to withdraw. Subsequently, the base was converted to Clark International Airport, Clark Freeport Zone, and a Philippine Air Force garrison.In April 2016, the U.S. Air Force redeployed detachments from Pyeongtaek Air Base in South Korea and Okinawa Base in Japan to Clark Air Base, including 200 military personnel, primarily to patrol disputed islands in the South China Sea.
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