The Philippines will convey a diplomatic protest to China, which it described as reneging on a promise not to militarise artificial islands in the busy South China Sea waterway, the Southeast Asian nation’s defense minister said on Monday. In a year-end feature, Chinese state broadcaster China Central Television aired rare aerial footage of Fiery Cross Reef, which has been transformed into a big island dominated by a 3,125-meter runway, long enough for H-6K strategic bombers to land. China’s visiting Premier has dismissed suggestions his nation is “militarizing” the waters of the South China Sea, but has acknowledged defense equipment placed on disputed islands was to help maintain “freedom of navigation”.