The United States on Wednesday said China and not the US should be blamed for the militarization of the West Philippine Sea.
In an interview over ANC new channel, US Ambassador to the Philippines Sung Kim stressed that it was not fair to point the blame at the United States when it was China taking aggressive unilateral action in the disputed areas in the South China Sea.
The US ambassador was reacting to the comments made by President Rodrigo Duterte this year that it was the US who should be blamed for the reclamation activities done by China in the West Philippine Sea because Washington did not do anything to stop it.
“I’m not sure if it’s really fair to point a finger at the United States because we’re not doing anything. It’s China that’s taking aggressive unilateral actions in the disputed area,” Kim said.
“China has obviously taken unilateral measures. They had indicated that they will refrain from militarization, but it appears that they have not,” the US official added.
Reports indicated that China had installed anti-ship cruise missiles and surface-to-air missile systems, which can reach as far as 295 nautical miles of the reefs and 160 nautical miles, respectively, in the Fiery Cross Reef, Subi Reef and Mischief Reef in the Spratly Islands which are all within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone.
The Philippines filed a case before the United Nations’ Permanent Court of Arbitration in 2013 due to China’s aggression and incursions in the WPS, which is within the Philippines’ 200 nautical mile-exclusive economic zone.
The Philippines won the case against China in July 2016 when the UN court junked China’s nine-dash line claim on the entire South China Sea.
The court also declared that the Spratly Islands, which include Mischief Reef, Ayungin Shoal and Recto (Reed) Bank are all within the exclusive economic zone of the Philippines.
However, Duterte has since shelved the victory in favor of warming up relations with China.
Kim stressed he was not surprised that the Philippines and the rest of the developing nations were working on improving their relationships with China since the latter is a rising power.