FRONT SEAT | Marines posted at remote Mavulis island some 140 kilometers from Taiwan say they are 'happy for the opportunity to be here.' (Photo by FRANCES MANGOSING / Philippine Daily Inquirer) MAVULIS ISLAND, Batanes, Philippines —The Philippines' front line in the north is a remote island made up of rocky cliffs that jut out of choppy waters adjacent to the Bashi Channel, the waterway that separates the country from Taiwan. A handful of sailors and Marines deployed on Mavulis call this tiny parcel of land a 'lonely island,' on which they stand guard as the Philippines' first responders should it get dragged into a conflict between China and the United States over Taiwan, a self-ruled island claimed by Beijing.

https://globalnation.inquirer.net/216177/filipino-troops-keep-spirits-high-on-lonely-island

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