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Rody warns of war over WPS

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President Rodrigo Duterte has warned China that war would ensue if they monopolize and exploit the oil and mineral deposits in the disputed West Philippine Sea.

  “I said, Mr. Xi Jinping, we also have a claim. You know we have the award. But I will not insist on recovering the award because it would result in a war, and it will be a massacre. I know. But please be it noted that one day during my term, I will assert [our rights],” said the President in his speech during the League of Municipalities of the Philippines Visayas Island Cluster Conference in Cebu Tuesday evening.

 

Duterte, who recognizes Xi as a good friend, earlier said he would not assert UN tribunal’s decision two years ago, but he also said he would not let China explore for oil on its own in the contested waters.

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“If you take that [oil] all by yourself, that can cause trouble,” Duterte said.

“That’s when you would see Año bringing soldiers in… to chop down the Chinese,” said the President in a jest, saying he would dispatch Interior and Local Government officer-in-charge Eduardo Año to attack the Chinese.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano earlier assured the public that the framework for the proposed joint exploration for oil and gas deposits with China in the West Philippine Sea  would not compromise the country’s territorial and sovereign rights.

“We are working hard, and we assure our people that it will be something that will be totally beneficial to all the Filipinos,” Cayetano said two weeks ago. “It will not be harmful in any way to our territorial and sovereign rights.”

Malacañang had earlier expected that the joint exploration between the Philippines and China could be signed before Xi’s visit to Manila in November.

Duterte—keen to court trade and investment from Beijing—has mostly withheld criticism of China.

But in a change of tone last week, Duterte said China had no right to claim airspace above man-made islands.

Philippine officials have claimed military pilots are repeatedly warned off by Beijing as their planes approach Philippine-held Thitu island, which lies beside a Chinese air base built on top of Subi Reef.

“You cannot create an island. It’s man-made and you say that the air above this artificial island is yours,” Duterte said, according to a transcript released by the presidential palace.

“That is wrong because those waters are what [one] would consider international sea. And the right of innocent passage is guaranteed,” Duterte said.

He added that he did not want to “quarrel” with China.

The comments follow allegations in May of Chinese harassment of Filipino troops at another South China Sea garrison.

Duterte’s national security adviser Hermogenes Esperon told reporters at the time that the Philippines could go to war “if our people are hurt there.”

There was no immediate response from the Chinese embassy in Manila.

In May, China landed several combat aircraft—including the long-range, nuclear-capable H-6K—at another island airfield in the sea for the first time, triggering international concern.

Despite this, it has denied militarizing the area, through which roughly a third of all global maritime trade passes.

An international maritime tribunal ruled early in Duterte’s presidency in 2016 that China’s claims to the area have no legal basis.

The Philippines is a military ally of the US, which says it is not taking sides in the various South China Sea territorial disputes.

However, the US navy has forcefully asserted its right to freedom of navigation in the area, repeatedly sailing close to the man-made islands and drawing Chinese protests.

Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam also have claims in the sea. With AFP “‹ “‹

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