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Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has said that China’s challenge in the South China Sea will only lead to violence and that it will only do so if Beijing forces oil into the disputed waters.
“If we go there to assert our jurisdiction, it will be bloody,” Duterte said in a televised briefing late Monday, his first remarks after Hundreds of Chinese ships were seen at a reef in March.
Duterte said he would only send ships into the disputed waters if China began drilling for oil. “If I get oil, it would be time to act on it,” he said.
Philippine defense chief Delfin Lorenzana told Duterte during the meeting that naval ships can patrol the country’s exclusive economic zone, after the president said “nothing will happen” if the nation sends its ships “because we are not in possession of the sea ”.
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Tensions between the two nations have deepened in recent weeks. Manila has repeatedly had protested against Beijing’s presence and has has deployed several ships in the disputed areas, even though Duterte maintains a friendly position, thanking China for providing coronavirus vaccines. China has stated that the presence of its ships in the South China Sea is normal and legitimate.
The US did it He expressed concern about China’s “maritime militia” in the area, supporting the Philippines – a long-standing military ally. Duterte said Monday that the United States will not help the Philippines if the conflict is “ours.”
Philippine business groups are urging China to withdraw ships from the reef
The Philippine leader said he was “not so interested” in the marine resources of the South China Sea. “I will give them five Coast Guard ships and I can track her. They can play with each other and see who is faster, “he said.
The Southeast Asian nation last year lifted a ban on oil exploration in the South China Sea, paving the way for advancing talks with China, even if nations still have to navigate their overlapping claims in the area.
(Updates with more comments from Duterte from the third paragraph)