China Can Switch Off Philippines’ Power Grid, Official Says

Linemen install cables on the Transco power transmission line in Santa Rosa town south of Manila as the Chinese-led consortium officially took over a 25-year concession of the Philippines' national electricity grid as part of the government's privatization program on Jan. 15, 2009. Romeo Gacad/AFP via Getty Images

A Philippine senator has urged for a probe into the implications of China’s part-ownership of the national grid after an energy official said China could remotely switch off the country’s power supply.

A Chinese state-run company, State Grid Corporation, has owned a 40 percent stake in the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) since 2009.