Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte categorically rejected a Chinese Communist Party demand that the Philippines withdraw its ships from disputed waters in the South China Sea on Thursday. He said the Philippines would not withdraw its ships from the disputed area and that he would not give in to pressure, even if it would jeopardize his relations with Beijing.
Since early March, the Chinese Communist Party has sent a large number of vessels to stay in the disputed waters of the South China Sea, including Whitson Reef (known in China as Niuyu Reef), which lies within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone, prompting strong discontent and repeated protests from the Philippines, but the number of Chinese vessels has increased rather than decreased. According to a statement by the Philippine National Task Force on the West Philippine Sea (NTF-WPS) on December 12, “the number of Chinese maritime militia vessels intruding into its exclusive economic zone (EEZ) reached 287.
The Philippines has subsequently strengthened its presence in its EEZ, including the South China Sea island of Zhongye, which is close to Communist Party military installations. Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana reported to Duterte at a meeting on the 14th that the Philippines has also deployed two ships in the West Philippine Sea, cruising around the Calayan Islands (known in China as the Spratly Islands) and Mischief Reef, according to ABS-CBN, the Philippines’ largest radio and television company. The Chinese Communist Party asked the Philippines to withdraw its vessels from the disputed waters and stop “moves that complicate the situation and aggravate the dispute.
However, Duterte said at the meeting that “I am not ready to retreat” and that Philippine ships “will not retreat an inch”.
Duterte also stressed, “I will not back down, even if it kills me, our friendship will end here.”
Previously, Duterte was criticized for his soft stance on the Chinese Communist Party for refusing to pressure it to comply with a 2016 ruling by an international arbitration tribunal on sovereignty over the South China Sea. Last week he even said that the 2016 ruling of the international arbitration tribunal on the South China Sea was “a piece of paper that can be thrown in the trash,” which was criticized by opposition Vice President Leni Robredo and former Philippine Supreme Court Justice Antonio Carpio, among others. Carpio, among others. At the same time, there are growing calls in the Philippines for Duterte to abandon his pursuit of close ties with the CCP and to resist its hostility and blatant provocations.
Under the pressure of public opinion, Duterte said on the 14th that he fully believes in the ruling of the International Court of Punishment.
According to Taiwan Central News Agency, the Philippines will hold a presidential election next May, former Justice Carpio and former Foreign Affairs Secretary Rosario and others, announced in March that the joint opposition camp to form a cross-party coalition, will jointly push the next head of state and vice head of state candidates to challenge the Duterte camp, they harshly criticized Duterte’s position on the Chinese Communist Party is too weak, and forced Duterte recently had to turn the gun.
According to Rosario’s statement, the Chinese Communist Party, as the illegal occupier of the West Philippine Sea, considers the South China Sea ruling as nothing more than a scrap of paper. It is a national tragedy that the Philippines won the South China Sea arbitration while the Philippine president is on the same side as Beijing, “to the grave detriment of the rights of Filipinos.
Philippine military chief Cirilito Sobejana said in a 10-day interview with CNN Philippines that the Philippine military will ask President Rodrigo Duterte to provide funds to establish a military logistics hub in the South China Sea’s Nakye Island in order to maintain patrols in the South China Sea. In addition, the military plans to set up high-resolution, night-capable cameras to monitor activity around the islands claimed by the Philippines.
Recent Comments