MANILA — The Philippines' plan to boost military presence in Batanes, the country's northernmost province facing Taiwan, is complicating China's strategic problems, maritime security expert Ray Powell said Monday.

Speaking on ANC, Powell said Manila's plan to increase military presence in Batanes adds to things that Beijing would think about, which could be beneficial to the Philippines.

"By strengthening Philippine national defense overall and particularly in the maritime area, we want to see China have to think about more things," he said.

Powell pointed out that President Xi Jinping of China is already dealing with various domestic and diplomatic concerns and anything that makes them more complex "helps the Philippines."

"Any day that Xi Jinping wakes up in the morning and thinks this is a bad day to cause problems for the Philippines is a good day for the Philippines and so to the extent that he looks out and sees this is too complicated," Powell said.

"We have these EDCA sites, these joint patrols, we have the Philippines showing the pictures. All of these things are making my life more difficult and by the way, I have problems at home. I have debt problems, I have demographic problems in China, I have financial problems in China, I have this relationship with Russia that is very complicated."

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Plans to build more structures in Batanes are part of the Comprehensive Archipelagic Defense Concept to address gaps in the country's defenses, the Philippines defense department has said.

Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr.  called for developing more sites in Batanes after inspecting Naval Detachment Basco, Naval Detachment Mavulis, Itbayat Airport, and the Multi-Agency Facility in Mahatao.

The plan prompted China to issue a statement, with China's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin telling the Philippines to "tread carefully and don't play with fire" by putting troops near Taiwan. China sees Taiwan as part of its territory and vows to one day seize it.

Manila's defense agency rebuffed Beijing and stressed "Batanes is Philippine territory and China has no business warning the Philippines about what it does within its own territory."